Return to the Beginning

Another year is soon upon us.

They are strange times; times of beginning and endings.
Dangerous and powerful.
And we feel it even if we don’t know what it is.
These times are not necessarily good, and
not necessarily bad.
In fact, what they are depends on what we are.

As I sit here on my balcony (yes – a balcony after 2 New Year’s Eve!), with my vino by my side and the view of the city in front of me, I cannot help but heave a sigh of relief that 2011 is almost over. For if I had to sum it all up – it has been a physically, emotionally and spiritually tiring year.

To set this year’s capping blog in motion, I have to go back to the beginning – where my resolution 365 days ago was to “always find salt” in all that I do this year. It was for that resolution that I sat at the J&R downstairs of the office and told my buddy Simon, my big hairy audacious dreams for 2011. A tall order at that time. But hey – it has all been done!

In many ways, 2011 will go down as a somewhat surreal time of living. For while achieving's one's dreams are important, surpassing them is a blessing. And that is what this year has been. For who was to say a year ago, that I would have gone on one of the most important journey of my life - walking the Camino de Santiago de Compostella. 118 kilometres and 4 1/2 days - funny how little it takes to change your life.

It is important that we know where we come from,
because if you do not know where you come from,
then you don’t know where you are,
and if you don’t know where you are,
then you don’t know where you’re going.
And if you don’t know where you’re going,
you’re probably going wrong.

As I reflect on the days past, I cannot define exactly what it is that has changed, but changed indeed has taken place. And I can only write it down to the fact that it wasn’t so much the trail I took, but the process of being myself and the subsequent continuous emptying that took place.

Again – we have to return to the beginning.

And it is when we continuous take each step as a beginning that each moment is a salt-filled one. For if anything else that I learnt in my 118 km, it is that while it is easy to keep going one-foot-in-front-of-the-other, the monotony of it will eventually drive your feet over the edge. And before you realise it, you’ve strayed so far off and did it subconsciously, that you don’t even know where to start getting the right way back.

I count myself fortunate, extremely blessed – for I am always surrounded by folks (or fairies if I wanted to be Irish about it), who will hold my hand and gently guide me back to the road I have to travel.

And I pray that 2012 will continue to be the same – that my life will continue to have the presence and blessings of angels (again, or fairies) especially those who are only meant to be there for the moment. And that I am in turn, seen as a blessing to their lives as well, serving them the way I am meant to serve.

We pride ourselves on
making a good history of our lives –
a good story to be told.

And yes, though I close 2011 with a gazillion ion of pride bursting out of me, I also look towards 2012 with an equal amount of humility. For at the end of this year and at the turn of the New Year – I am but a foundling. A foundling with much to learn, much to experience and in return – as most foundlings go – much to share.

Here’s wishing you a very happy 2012. May each moment in the year to come be a return to the beginning for you – so that joys can be relived a thousand folds over, and wrongs be righted.