Happy New Year, All!
I hope you had a good holiday season and welcomed in January 2025—a time of beginnings and endings—just the way you wanted.
As the first month of the year, the theme of beginnings for January probably makes sense. But what of the theme of endings?
Well, that has to do with numerology, or the study of numbers and their potential impacts on us. In 2025, the theme of endings spans the whole year.
2 + 0 + 2 + 5 = 9
9 is the number of completion.
What is ready to come to an end in your life this year?
I have a bit of a list, but something that's important to me (and that I can control) is being done with not using my singing voice.
The first time it dried up was when my younger brother was killed in an accident. The second time was when the feeling that I was wasting my life in my jobs grew so strong that something clicked off inside of me.
As much as I hate to say it, that was over 15 years ago.
The strong feeling I have now is that singing (alone and with neighbors) will have an outsized positive effect on my life. Even still, I haven't managed to end my singing drought, so I'm getting help from a vocal coach.
If you can't create a desired ending on your own, who can help?
OK, I'll end there about endings and begin on beginnings by reintroducing some math and a story that I have on my website.
The math:
1.00 to the power of 365 = 1.00
1.01 to the power of 365 = 37.7
This math shows that doing a tiny bit more—a mere 0.01 bit more—365 days a year makes a big difference.
What 0.01s might you start this year to make a difference for yourself and/or someone, or someones, in your neighborhood?
Using my desire to start singing again as an example, a 0.01 I might start could be letting out a note or two after my daily morning meditation.
And using my friend who wants to start exercising as an example, she could do this
4-minute workout I shared with her after she starts her coffee maker.
(New habits stick better when we start tiny and link them to an existing habit.)
As for the story I promised, …
My mother once added a 0.01 to her routine—a simple wave—that made the MARKED difference of saving her neighbor's life.
On her way home from work, my mother would wave to her neighbor in her kitchen window. One week, the neighbor wasn't there two days in a row.
This made my mom uneasy.
Luckily, the neighbor had trusted my mom with a house key, which she used when her neighbor failed to answer the door. My mother found her neighbor stuck between her bed and nightstand close to dehydrating to death.
If a wave can save a life, imagine what a smile can do.
I'd love to hear about the 0.01s you define and which you'll do.
Take care.
