Recently, I visited a museum with an exhibit on Roman mythology. The statue of Janus particularly caught my attention. The Roman god Janus has two faces: one looks forward and the other looks back. In mythology, he represents new beginnings, transitions and time. Just like Janus, I believe that when we make new starts, we have a wonderful opportunity to look back and evaluate the past as well as to look forward and set new goals.
We are all beings in the process of development. While we should build on our successes, I do not think we should beat ourselves up for the goals we did not achieve. We should take some time for ourselves and think about what we have accomplished and what we could do better. And we should set new goals for the upcoming period.
A friend of mine told me this: Last year, I set a goal for myself not to speak negatively about someone at work that I was having a hard time getting along with. It was very difficult at first and sometimes when I felt like I was going to say something negative, I had to leave the room. But slowly, I started to feel a power within me. Throughout the year, whenever I felt the urge to criticize that person, I felt a flow of energy that supported me so I would not fall into that trap. In the end, it became very natural for me to be silent or even to say something positive. I was so pleased with the result that my goal for this year is not to speak negatively about anyone. My friend's success last year gave her the confidence to continue on the path she had started. So, I think setting goals is important.
It is also useful to look at where we have failed. Guilt and self-loathing are not helpful emotions. I think we should not identify ourselves with our mistakes. Instead, we can analyze our weaknesses and try to apply the energy from our successes to those behaviors. In other words, we can learn from both the situations where we have achieved our goals and where we have failed and we can continue to move forward by changing ourselves. We have the power to overcome our weaknesses with our own effort. That quarter portion that represents our free will can determine whether we remain bound to our past habits or move toward freedom.
I do not think goals should be too big. We can set new goals that are not too large. We can approach this in different ways. Some people like to make a list of physical, mental and spiritual goals. Others prefer to choose just one goal and focus on it. Whichever approach we choose, we should not neglect to make time for ourselves. We should look at how we can do better in the areas where we are weak and we can use our free will to decide who we want to be in the upcoming period.
I was watching a gardening program and what they said there really resonated with me. I will tell you as I remember it: Imagine the new period as a garden you are going to plant. Sow the seeds of your good habits in this soil. Weed out the wrong actions and weeds of the past. That is what they said. These were the things we needed to do to become the good gardeners of our lives.
Let's be the good gardeners of our lives. Let's work to achieve the success that leads us to true happiness and freedom. I hope everything you wish for comes true. I hope you achieve everything you dream of.
