Which way ought I go from here?

Do you recall this conversation between Alice in Wonderland and the Cheshire Cat?  

“Cheshire Puss,” she began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like the name: however, it only grinned a little wider. 

 

“It’s pleased so far,” thought Alice, and she went on. “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”

 

“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.

 

“Don’t much care where—” said Alice.

 

“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.

 

“—so long as I get SOMEWHERE,” Alice added.

 

“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.”

 

As this year draws to a close, are you asking yourself the same question Alice asked the cat: “Which way ought I go from here?” Your answer may come in the form of your New Year’s Resolutions. If you haven’t started your list yet, consider these suggestions:

 

1. Throw out non-essential numbers. This includes age, weight, and height.

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning—about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Just never let the brain idle.

4. Enjoy the simple things. They often have the greatest value!

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh so much that you can be recognized by your distinctive laughter.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with us our entire lives is ourselves.

7. Surround yourself with what you love: family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, or whatever.

8. Cherish your health. If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don’t take guilt trips. Instead, go to the mall, the next county, or a foreign country, but not guilt.

10. At every opportunity, tell the people you love that you love them. 

 

As you prepare to cross the threshold to 2023,  I leave you with this New Year's blessing from John O'Donohue:

 

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,

May the clarity of light be yours,

May the fluency of the ocean be yours,

May the protection of the ancestors be yours.

 

And so may a slow

Wind work these words

Of love around you,

An invisible cloak

To mind your life.

 

Cheers!