Exceeds expectations.

Anticipation.

We made it through another holiday with the persistence of a squirrel cracking a nut. Our best gift? We realized we were the nut. And that is ok. The tenacity of a squirrel is unparalleled. Do they ever rest? They work hard to crack open the nut and spill its contents. After all, the rascally squirrel is just trying to survive.

The tinsel and garland is settled and the lights have turned off after the family celebration. Our mind wanders from the busy-ness that occupied thoughts and actions to a quiet moment to wonder,

Are we the nut….?

The nut so hard to crack open so the truth could spill out. We invented and created creative ways to hide the truth. We morphed into someone we no longer recognize. Preferring to inspect the lines and wrinkles in the mirror to see where the tiny lines of past decisions will now lead us.

Finally. We see a couple of the small ones, the fine lines and realize it was destiny when we drew a line in the sand. Of “no more.”

Persistence paid off and the truth re-arranged the sequence of events in the proper order of sense and sensibilities.

Then what? What now?

What do we do now with it all? We barely knew what to do with it before?

Punt.

Winning is great and everything and although the process is the punishment oft prescribed for a change in an attitude.

What now?

Where do we start? Where do we begin? Where do we end the bad attitudinal reminders that pepper over our good times. Change is scary, however no human escapes change. Its presence in our lives is a constant reminder.

For many of us, we are entering a new year and anticipate our resolution’s success similar to that of a small child jumping off the diving board for the very first time. Or shooting a three with a swish and no rim.

We take stock in our abilities to improve our life, forgetting that mistakes and setbacks are truthfully what change the course of action.

We assess the quality of our swish shot, our first jump into the big pool. Then we look to our opponent and assess their shot, first jump into the big pool. When we really get serious about change, we assess the situation with tactical awareness. We pay closer attention to our opponent’s tendencies, strengths, and yes, weaknesses.

Tactics like these are indeed a beginning to improvement, but what about when we fail and fall back into our own accepting and unacceptable patterns?

It takes two to tango. If only one of the duet is doing all the fancy footwork and mind games, life’s situations get dicey and dupe-y.

The only sure thing is change.

The single best approach to change is high performance of our best selves. Our toughest opponent may be

The self.

How can this be, we think, when we look in the mirror and always like what we see. Blow ourself kisses of approval of all that we are?

At this time of year reflection may become the cornerstone of some thinking. What we did for good in the last year, what we did bad. We did not see that we were the hard nut to crack when we reviewed our successes in the proverbial mirror of reflection of our so called greatest arguments.

Why?

We always thought we were right.

Ugh.

We forgot to challenge ourselves because staying comfortable was so,

comfortable.

The lack of simple solutions.

Ugh. Again.

There is dense and then there is dense. While arguing our point, these two sides of the same coin are the most difficult opponents. Although the same name, dense is as dense does.

The depth of meaning lies in their convictions.

Dense means closer together.

Dense can also mean “stupid.”

Moral arguments are simple. There is a right. There is a wrong.

Why? The significance of significant understanding of a complex problem usually is not a slam dunk. Swishing the three shot down with no rim-so to speak. Even with the replay and review of the recorded taped methods and messages, it pays to pay close attention.

The truth lies somewhere in the middle of the muddied muck and mess. Ethical quandaries divert our attention spans away from what is staring us in the face. The best and oft-minded minding of the differences we all hold deep within our core. Manage this guy. Manage that lady. Ignore this person. Shower this one with ridiculous attention.

Enter. Resilience.

Resilience in the face of constant pain and pressure. Consider the hard nut to crack is simply a person hard to convince in a debate between “I was right and you were wrong.”

Strength and challenge walk hand in hand.

When they do not join, they end up punching one another in the nose.

Ouch.

Strong character is an innate ability to do the right thing even when the excitement of the feel good moment has passed.

Yep.

We may win the argument, the lotto, the trophy. In the end the importance lies in how we got to where we are. Most likely through a muddied mess of dropped calls, snubbed social attempts of connection, unification and worst of all, the stubborn desire to be right.

We relied on her instead of Him.

He is quiet and He is strong. He is here. Waiting to show the world how He can help heal. We may have missed an opportunity for not listening to another’s tiny cries of fear. Yeah, we turned the other cheek anticipating another potential and possible smack….

Instead He moved in and He rescued us with His persistence.

We received His gift a long time ago. We just didn’t know it in the rock bottom moment of our desire to always be right.

As many of us enter into a new year, new time of life, a new decade, a new home, all that is good and right is anticipating our ability to show up. This is exactly how He helps us in moments we are too dense or dense to see the forest from the trees.

He does not expect us to do everything or do it all.

Keep it simple.

Drama is over-rated.

Small is powerful.

There is no perfect condition for change.

Find faith in the ordinary.