Three Words

 

 

December 28, 2020

 Greetings from our direction,

 There are a few versions of the question, people sometimes pose it to prop up dinner conversation that has gone stale, or it is offered at some moment when friends are feeling thoughtful, but perhaps not up to anything too deep.   It is a steppingstone for late night philosophers to make their way to morning.

 “If you were stranded on a desert island, and you could only have….”  Which may then ask about one book, or two people, or three tools.  It provokes rumination, and so I have ruminated.

 As I write this, we are leaving this year, or perhaps it is leaving us, I won’t postulate which.    Regardless, there are many, if not most, who would welcome the sight of 2020 in our rear-view mirror.  Ah, these poor months have been blamed for so much, when they are only guilty of marking time while we filled them.

 I sympathize with anyone who is anxious to have this strange time come to an end.  There is something satisfying in the idea of shutting the door on one challenging year with the hope of welcoming in twelve months of something better.  

 I am blessed with a porous memory.  I am also blessed with a written history, some of which you have read here.  Combining these two makes for an interesting tapestry of truth and truth and something else.  I have sifted through this year, looking at images and listening to the words that were spoken, remembering anger and laughter and hope and discouragement,

 I will leave it to others to recap the last twelve months, the victories and the tragedies.  There are already enough voices to editorialize it, enough memes to symbolize the carnival house chaos that was this year.  So, join me as I turn to this other path.

 Think of the moments in 2020 when you were at your best.  Faced with challenges, you brought your strengths.  Confronted by dilemmas, you chose from your experience, your values, your beliefs.  Amidst divisiveness and indifference, you chose empathy and unity and forgiveness.  Trapped in isolation you found growth, freedom, sought creative ways to connect with friends, to be as close as you could with family. 

 Find a few of your favorite images from this year.  Not when you gloated, not the day of anger, not revenge on the highway, not when you gave into selfishness or bitterness.  None of those will serve you well.  Instead, remember when you were most satisfied with how you used the gifts you own.   

 If you could take three words with you from this year, three words that served you well, what would they be?  Three words to carry into the blank slate, to strengthen yourself for whatever comes. 

 I looked at my own year, not unblemished, perhaps more than a few episodes I winced at in retrospect.  I still have plenty of room to grow and to gain from my missteps.  And I can also see where I came close to what I would wish for myself.  And so I chose these three words:

Desire.  Determination.  Delight.

 Desire precedes action, informs motivation, speaks to a passion.  Determination overcomes challenges, dilutes disappointments, reinforces direction.  Delight asks, ‘What beauty, what fun, what hope, what grace, what next?’, and celebrates the answer.

 This is not magic, and it’s not a tattoo.  Choose the words you want take into the new year but be open to others that show up.  What I want for you, my friends, is a rich, satisfying life, filled with moments linked to moments where you are your best self. 

   

 This is not idealism or some naive belief that just naming words will change the world for the better.  It is a small step toward what we want for ourselves and the people we care about.  We are a myriad of experiences in any day, and each are formed by us, ultimately.  Sometimes it’s us at our best, maybe because we were prepared to be.

 If you were trapped on a desert island and you could only have three words to describe how you will live there, which would you choose?   I don’t think next year will be a desert island, but what it holds is up to us.  We are bringing our own bags, it’s our choice how we pack.

  

Hope this finds you packing your best,

 

David

 

 

 

Copyright © 2020 David Smith