2020...On Purpose

Beginning the New Year Around the Fire

Curator Sam Burnham

​“New year, new me!”

That’s the mantra this time of year. Goodness knows I’ve scoffed at that statement a thousand times. We’ve seen it before. For some reason we think a flip of the calendar is all that’s needed to transform our life. It’s just not that simple. It never is.

If 2019 was anything, it was a year of change. Some of it was the good sort. Other parts, not so much. Without falling into the new year cliché there’s a lot I’d like to change in this coming year. Some of it is an effort to change things back, to move forward in areas where I have gone the wrong direction previously.

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​One of the benefits of being the curator here is having the examples we highlight. Those men and women who exemplify the ideals we wish to celebrate. Hard work, simplicity, family, faith, tradition, etc. One of the biggest ideals for the coming year will hopefully be gumption, or perhaps "intentionality" which is just a made up word to denote doing things on purpose, being proactive, etc. Whatever name you staple to it, the idea is to be more purposeful. 2019 left me feeling as if it was something that happened to me rather than something I lived through. That’s not the way to do life. We only have one shot. We have to make it count.

I’ve spent a lot of time pondering this in the last few days. I’m trying to identify ways to live life rather than let life happen to me. I still have dreams that I’d like to fulfill and that’s not going to happen just because time moves on. I’ve come up with some ideas and I’m planning to put them into action. You’ll likely see some of them here as I plan to use ABG in this effort. Other ideas will be implemented elsewhere as they have to do with work, family, faith, and friends.

The biggest conclusion I've come to is that turning the calendar page doesn’t do it. Expecting that to happen is how you let a year happen to you. Real change comes from knowing that you have to do it for you, for those you love, and because it’s the right thing to do. You have to make a plan, set goals, and then go after them. So that’s what I plan to do in the new year. Maybe that’s a resolution, maybe it’s something else.

If you’re the praying type, I‘d ask you to remember me in that time.