Afterburn

The day after Christmas leaves me a little lost. What next? So much hype, decorating, celebrating, and I feel empty after. The lights on the tree burn into the side of my face reminding me it's time to strip it all away. The afterburn.

That's when I point my focus to the next major event which is the new year. Yeah, 2024 is right around the corner. On the cusp of a new year a lot of people start to take a look inside and figure out how to tweak their lives.

Who do I want to be next year? Do I want to make a resolution? Vow to be a better person? Eat better? Exercise? Be more generous? The funny thing is, by now we should know who we are. Sure, we can vow to do life better next year, but our "true selves" will still be tagging along for the ride into 2024. Guess we better like that person, huh? Our true self.

Obviously, we can't change the core of who we are, but we can modify and improve. We can set goals and meet them. The easy ones, that is. So, here I go. First goal, strip Christmas decorations on New Year's Day. Goal two, eat better today. Oh yeah, I need that one now! No waiting. Goal three? Write more. And more. And more. And more.

That's the neat thing about life, if we don't like the way we're living it we can literally make small changes the same day. As long as we have breath and a heartbeat, we have a chance to do better next time.

My son is an EMT and I have lost count of how many bodies of unfortunate souls he and his co-workers have transported in their ambulances this month. Thankfully, it wasn't our turn yet. With that said, what are we going to do with the rest of our time here?