Without cycles, we could not plan crops around planting and harvest seasons, we would not know how much food to store based on how long it would last, and we could not migrate to other places as the climate changed.
It is no wonder we love cycles so much, give them so much importance, and gather our strength for every fresh start. Beyond their practical importance for survival, we use cycles as a way to take care of our mental health.
The change of seasons, a birthday, the turn of the year: everything becomes a reason to reset the game and start over, this time for real! And that is fine. It would be worse if we did not have this nitro boost pushing us forward. And if a Monday already works for that, imagine January 1st!
It hardly matters which rituals you choose to see in the new year: jumping over waves, eating lentils, throwing flowers into the sea, setting off fireworks, wearing white, staying up all night. What really matters is recharging body and mind with this energy of transition to make the days ahead more alive, more mindful.
In life’s unpredictability, fresh starts are chances to take control, even if little of that control is real. And that brings us to one of the most important traditions for harnessing this energy: looking back on what has passed, learning from past experiences, and trying new ways of doing things.
The secret that is no secret to anyone lies precisely here: knowing that simply staying awake from 11:59 p.m. to 12:01 a.m. is not enough. You have to make it happen: choose, create, and take your own steps, aware that they are just that, steps, small, slow, and exhausting, with no magic shortcut to get there. It is all about daily effort.
The greatest danger in life is going through it without recognizing its phases, transitional and renewing, and acting within each one without clinging to what, either way, will not last forever.
Time may be a human invention, but its power to transform definitely is not. Don’t let it go to waste!