I know that this time of year brings a glut of how to's and what to's regarding 2008 handing the baton to  2009. I tend not to involve myself with resolutions and reflections at this time of year for two reasons.

The first is sheer self-preservation.  My forced "this is the time of year you make resolutions" resolutions never actually manifest into sustained transformational change. This is likely because they tend to be generated based upon my best (often self-centered) thinking rather than a deeper leading.  

The second reason is that, since I came to faith, I've been led by the into some kind of spiritual fiscal year.  For at least the past three years this resolve/reflect process has been prompted in me somewhere at beginning of the fourth quarter--in the September/October timeframe--rather than at the end of the year. Not sure why that is, but I go with it. 

Anyway, despite my general disinterest, I came across the following blog post and wanted to share. It contains an interesting list of questions intended to guide reflection that I think could be a useful tool for anyone who plans to spend some time thinking about where they have been in 2008 and where they might be headed in 2009.  

Rather than focus on the things like "What am I going to do this year to eat less sugar and exercise more?" (which is where my best thinking usually takes me), this list opens with a suggestion to summarize your year in six sentences (one for each two months or so), then to boil that down into six words and make those six words into a prayer.

I like that. Simple. Elegant.

Later, questions focus on things like  "How will you pursue beauty, laughter, curiosity, knowledge, wisdom, generosity and compassion?"

Nice. 

You may not agree with where every question takes you, but free will lets you take what inspires you and leave the rest. You can find the list here if you want to check it out. 

Either way, my New Year's hope and prayer for anyone reading this and for my own family is that God will grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can and the wisdom to know the difference in 2009.  Peace to you and yours.