A Balcony View: Putting a positive spin on the New Year

2010 was quite a year from where I sat. During the last 12 months, I satiated myself with a number of editorial nuggets. I discovered the incredible Sedthee Thai Eatery, vented about the city’s anemic branding process, scorned IHOP for its gargantuan breakfasts, scoffed at Glendale Water & Power and sought to help others by shedding a light upon issues that have had a personal affect on my own life.

I consider it a great privilege to share my opinions and viewpoints with readers every week. Hopefully, there was something for everyone to agree or disagree with over the course of the year. Open debate is one of the healthiest aspects of a free society and it is with that intention that I write.

As far as the resolutions I made at the beginning of this year, I had some failures and successes. I did not use fewer adverbs in my writing, even though I really and truly tried. I also did not refrain from regularly complaining about texting drivers, although I cannot take full responsibility for that. It is the fault of those who continue to do it and thus perpetuate my ranting.

I did score a small victory showing more public displays of affection. Just yesterday, I walked 100 yards through Old Town Pasadena hand-in-hand with my girlfriend. Baby steps, as the old saying goes.

With my current success-to-failure ratio identified, I think it is time to reformulate my resolution making process and stop focusing on “quitting, stopping and losing.” My goals for 2011 will not revolve around things I’m going to cease or give up.

On the surface, losing weight, quitting chocolate or giving up my adverbial codependence may seem like admirable goals, but they are denial based, worded in such a way that my mind would see the process as a negative even before I’ve hit the road.

Can I guarantee with certainty that a slight shift in how I position my resolutions will make me more susceptible to success? No. But oddly enough, I think the Mayan calendar, which is set to run out soon, serves an inspirational purpose. As many of you know, when that calendar runs out, speculations abound that the end of the world or some cataclysmic technological failure will occur.

Let’s say for a moment that was true. If you knew the world was going to end in just 365 days, how would you choose to live your last year? Would you aspire to achieve goals that revolved around denial and lack? Or would you find ways to add positive value to your life?

Personally, I don’t think the Mayan calendar is a harbinger of doom, but it is a great metaphor for the unpredictability of our own existence. As such, it would suggest that filling your life with good might be considerably more rewarding than spending your remaining days extricating the bad.

Now I know what many are thinking…using an irrational fear of Armageddon is nothing but a convenient excuse to live it up with no consequences and no responsibility for one’s actions. But I would argue that nothing could be further from the truth. Knowing that life in our current state of being is finite makes finding happiness, abundance and joy a quest we should pursue with great urgency and respect.

Finally, I submit that the one resolution in which my intention was set to acquire something instead of deny it, succeeded. What that tells me is that the attainable goals are the ones which are set with an intention of adding, not subtracting.

With that said, this is my new and improved New Year’s resolution for 2011:

I’m going to write more. And I’m going to write something of incredible value, which shall be of benefit to myself and others. As I do this, I’m going to find more satisfaction in my life. And as I find more satisfaction in my life, I’m going to find more success coming into my life.

I will also look to expand and nurture relationships with friends and those whose values are likewise positioned in the positive. They will add abundance to my life and I will add the same to theirs. I will laugh more in the coming year. While that seems trivial, I laughed a lot in 2010, so to do more of that will be an enjoyable challenge.

With all the things that I know are coming my way, I am very much looking forward to 2011. I see the coming year as a great opportunity for growth and expansion. I hope each and every one of you finds the abundance you seek — whether it is financial, health or relationship focused.

I have faith that we will all get exactly what we ask for. Which is why it is so very important to start asking for it in the right way. Happy New Year.

GARY HUERTA is a Glendale resident and author. He is currently working on his second novel and the second half of his life. Gary may be reached at gh@garyhuerta.com.