New Year In The Balance

31/12/2017

WITH COSMIC BINOCULARS

Fear of the future is like a rustle in the long grass ahead of us . . .

Each new year, you are asked to approach it with an expectation of joy and wonderment. What you are not told, is how to release and let go of the wagon filled with guns, ammunition, bombs, machetes and bullets. Lets add to that some tranquilisers, sleeping pills, a handful of laxatives and three boxes of pain killers for just in case . . . that you are pulling behind you.

When you reach that precipice of one year and look across to the precipice of the new year, with the swing bridge between, which extends over the canyon of good fortune, you stop to calculate the distance, the effort, your willingness and whether the bridge can bear the load.

You cannot help but factor in the wagon that you have pulled for so long and over so many miles. It contains everything that you know, that you have been through, the memories and what you are familiar with and you are loathe to let it go!

You even remember the ruts that nearly tipped over your wagon and how you nearly had no more strength to pull it. You have not forgotten the hills that you have had to climb and how heavy the burden became . . . but you were soldiers and you won the personal battle. 

But here at this precipice, looking over the chasm of new hope and great beginnings, you realise that taking the wagon over the swing bridge is dangerous and although it is possible, it will quite likely cost you something - somewhere.

And so after quite a while doing the mathematics and looking over your cumbersome wagon, you come to a resolution and you decide to search your personal self for things that will make the journey too difficult. 

You decide to give up most of your old clothing, sensing you want to shed some weight, but you don't remove any item out of the wagon of mixed memories. You remove your hat and coat, shirt and pant, shoes and boots. And you are ready to cross the chasm into the new year!

Pulling the heavy and awkward wagon, you step out onto the swing bridge and you hear the creaking of the wooden wheels, but you press on regardless. The bridge holds and you leave behind the old year with every step that you take and you begin to look forward to the new year, with the changes that you would like to make . . .

Exactly half way across, there is a fork in the bridge, which you never saw from the edge of the past year. The left hand bridge split is narrow and can only take you with no wagon and the right hand bridge split is wide enough for you and your wagon. It is obvious which one you must take, but you are curious about the other path and you step up to the sign with the arrow pointing to the left, and you read:

If you have these items with you, in this new year -

Your life will be as comfortable as an old shoe

You won't need to be as tough as an old boot

Love will be yours and you'll wear you're heart on a sleeve

You will roll up your sleeves and prosper

So abundant, you will give someone the shirt off your back

You'll help friends at the drop of a hat

You'll never have to eat your hat, for you are honest

Your joy will be a feather in your cap

The bee in your bonnet will give you hope

Faith will have you pull something out of your hat

And persistance will mean you will wear more than one hat

And if you don't have one, you can ride on someone's coattails

Enjoy your new year!

Your mind is ticking overtime and your brain is changing gears and there is doubt in your decision to pull the weight behind you, but you cannot turn back and on the right hand split waits your wagon. You leave the left hand split and head towards your wagon and as you lift the heavy handles, you see a similar sign in front of you and you walk a few steps and read the words:

If you have these items with you, in this new year -

The betrayal of your best friend, waits like a timebomb

You fail to launch your new self image 

There is a temporary ceasefire in the family feud 

There is a battle over the custody of your children

You will feel like you are under fire from the courts

Your new work relationship will bring a firestorm of controversy

Judgements will bombard you from all sides

Like a trooper you will persevere, however (as you always have)

You will be caught in the crossfire between mum and dad

Your birthday plans will leave you feeling out-flanked

Work for the most part, will be like a warzone

 If you are lucky, your sibling will call a truce

Being responsible, will place you on the frontline

And your house will be besieged by termites.

Enjoy your old year!

The rustle in the grass is just that - a rustle, but we carry so much baggage that we arm ourselves up to the teeth in expectation of what lies ahead. 

The new year does not know what you have gathered in the past year and it is a clean slate. It knows not of your pain nor your prejudices and it awaits with anticipation. It promises everything that you bring with you and more and it has no judgement, so if you bring all your baggage, it will honour you and give you more. If you bring all your joy and the clothes on your back, it will honour you and give you more.

Change your resolutions this year . . . do not hang them on the coattails of an old year . . . an old you. Hinge them on a hopeful you, who can run at a future with joy!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

- Jaylee Balch -

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