Thresholds

Happy New Year and Welcome to 2010!

This time of year is filled with a couple of thresholds.  First there is the winter solstice, for me a really important day because I know from then on the daylight will be getting longer.  For many it’s a religious day, but certainly for all a threshold.  Then we just celebrated New Years.  The threshold there is obvious, but this New Year’s Day was special because it marks the beginning of the next decade.  All weekend I’ve been listening to different news and entertainment outlets talk about the first decade of the 21st century and now we’re starting the second.

You know about thresholds!  You crossed a major threshold the day your doctor gave you your diagnosis.  There are days we want to mark, remember, and celebrate, and those we’d much rather ignore and forget.  Obviously the choice is yours, but you can’t revert back to the land before time…it’s just not possible.

We get the opportunity to create thresholds all the time.  We create thresholds each and every time we take on a new experience, or explore a new belief.  We create these thresholds because prominently marking those times and experiences ceremoniously is what new beginnings are all about.  Each threshold can be a new beginning.  We can create new rituals, attitudes and beliefs.  We have developed the capacity to establish new boundaries for our patience, tolerance and levels of perseverance. 

It’s clear that thresholds can be scary, but well worth experiencing the fear for what lies beyond the threshold.  It’s not uncommon for those facing a health challenge allow the threshold to be a declaration of independence.  We’re not tied to negative thoughts.  We don’t have to be burdened with negative attitudes.  Shedding those layers or negativity is crossing a threshold.

This isn’t about a resolution.  Resolutions are for people who have good intentions but seldom if ever have the stamina to see the intention to its completion.  When we cross a threshold we create a way to walk in the world.  What thresholds have you crossed and what’s been the result?