Well, it's that time when the old year is leaving us and the new one will soon be
upon us. Susan and I have started our frantic holiday travel. We just returned from a
delightfully hectic and little planned out few days in Mexico. At this moment, we're in
our frenzied unpack and pack mode. Without any respite, we'll load up the car in a
couple of days with a bunch of Chanukah presents for almost a week of "grandmunchkin
spoiling" in Nashville. Then, the day after we get back, without a chance to catch our
breath, we'll be hopping a plane for San Francisco on a comparable ten day mission. And
finally, without missing a heartbeat, we get home next year in time for me to get ready to
go right into the new semester classes. This time of the year is always a "whew" time.
As I was on the plane heading back to Orlando from Cancun, I started jotting down
some lines as I realized that our success of being south of the border for the first time
was the result of expecting a bunch of unexpecteds, how we calmly greeted them, without a
care went with the flow of things, and took in stride anything that came along. This is
what I scribbled down:
"You know, what I like most about the new year? You know what I will toast on the
night of 2009 December's last day? That is, if I'm still awake and don't DVR the dropping
of the Times Square's ball (Susan and I don't do the New Year's Eve drinking and horn
tooting party scene). I'll pour a quiet glass of champagne then or on 2010 January's
first day and lift it to this coming year's surprises, to all the coming unawares, to the
inevitable reshuffling of the deck, to the complexity of it all, to what I cannot now
know, to what I cannot now guess, to what I have no clue, to what I cannot now control, to
what I cannot now guarantee, to the out-of-the-blue bolt of lightning, to the unpredicted,
to the unexpected, to the unfamiliar, to the without warning, to the out of nowhere, to
the unforeseen, to never stepping into either the same river or class, to all the twists
and turns in life's road that will keep me from falling asleep at the wheel, to the
unplanned interruptions that like an earthquake will shake me from the doldrums of
routine, to the as yet unknown challenges that will keep me from atrophying, and to the
unanticipated adventures that will keep me questing for truer answers."
"I was reminded a couple of weeks before the beginning of the Fall semester, when
unexpected disaster literally threatened to tear all my courses apart, that while the way
ahead is pathless and everything is shrouded by uncertainty, how we meet each challenging
"what's going to happen now" is both a character revealer and builder. For however
fearful "new" may be, however a challenge it offers to the security provided by the status
quo, as recent research on how the brain works shows, it also has the power to quiet and
keep in check "fear," that mother of all stress, that deadly killer of both curiosity and
imagination, that great inhibitor of action, that extreme dreader of things, that deadly
intimidator, that pernicious imposer of stagnation."
"To be sure, I cannot dictate to Clotho, the Fate who spins the threads of human
life, but I can decide how I will weave her yarn and design the clothing I wear. Like it
or not, want it or not, all of these "without warning," in my personal, social, and
professional lives will invariably come knocking at my door in the coming year, as they
have in the every past year, with their possibilities and potentials, with their failures
and achievements, and with their sorrows and joys. I have the power to decide how to
greet them, to answer the "now what" question they pose. I can smile, confidently open
that door to all of these "all-of-a-sudden," welcoming in, embracing, adapting to,
adopting, and giving meaning and purpose to them. Or, I can grimace, use up a lot of
time and energy struggling and straining to keep the door shut tight and fearfully cringe
behind it. That choice is not as easy as it sounds, for fear, that ancient survival
mechanism in our brain, puts up a heck of a fight, defending the tried and true,
strengthening the walls of routine, often deepening the ruts, and refusing to go gently
into the sweet night. It's mortal combat between the comfort of the familiar and safe on
one hand and the discomfort of the unfamiliar and dangerously risky on the other."
"But, as M. Scott Peck had once said, our shining moments are more likely to occur
when we are deeply shaken from our smug comfort and complacency. After all, what else but
"new" can teach me lessons from the rich experiences of everyday life, pose alternatives
thoughts and feelings and actions, alter courses, transform hopelessness into hopeful,
disbelief into belief, resignation into expectation, an ugly "ugh" into a beautiful "wow,"
blah into spirited, unhappiness into bliss, dream into real, plod into dance, "no" into a
"yes," numbness into aware, pessimism into optimism, and callousness into love? What else
would keep me better focused on and moving towards my vision, as well as working my way
there? What else would offer me a tool to avert being hypnotized into sleep walking into
class and teaching in my sleep? What else would stimulate my mind, heart, and soul? What
else would keep every fiber of my being on full alert? What else would rouse my
curiosity? What else would fuel my imagination and creativity? What else would give me
the chance to sow, blossom, and ripen? What else would give me an opening to become a
better person? What other occasions would be as exciting, adventurous, enriching,
satisfying, meaningful, and significant?"
So, will you raise your glass with me? Here's to the wondrous blessings of
discomforting serendipity in the coming New Year! See you and talk to you all in 2010!
May you each be joyful and blessed in the inevitable coming unknowns of the New Year!!
Make it a good day.
--Louis--
Louis Schmier http://www.therandomthoughts.com
Department of History
http://www.therandomthoughts.edublogs.org
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, Georgia 31698 /\ /\ /\ /\
(229-630-0821) /^\\/ \/ \ /\/\__/\ /\/\
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/\"If you want to climb mountains,\ /\
_ / \ don't practice on mole hills" -
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