Misha Crews

It’s the last morning of the old decade, or what is to become the old decade in just a few hours. And so we rush onward into 2020, a year which sounds almost too science-fictiony to be real. (When the clock strikes midnight, if I look out my window and don’t see flying cars, I’ll be very disappointed.) 

To be honest, part of me cringes at New Year’s celebrations. It’s like everything I failed to accomplish in the past twelve months is being shoved in my face. Usually I am a glass-half-full, focus-on-what-you-have-accomplished-rather-than-what-you-haven’t kind of person, but New Year’s tends to bring out my crankiest self. 

This crankiness and self-criticism will pass, of course. It always does. Life is about finding a path and following it, one step at a time. But sometimes I get so focused on my feet that I forget to look up and see the wider world around me. Sometimes I need to re-orient myself to where I am going. And that’s why it’s so important to have a guiding star.

Okay, I know this is an overused metaphor. But it’s probably used so frequently because it’s completely accurate. Since the beginning of recorded history, we have been using stars to help us steer our various courses in life. Having that one point of orientation in an otherwise huge and overwhelming world is not only essential to get us where we’re going, it can help keep us off the rocks. 

So, wherever and whoever you are, my wish for you in 2020 is that you find your own star, and follow it as well as you can, and as far as you can. Whether your star is family or faith or financial, or something else entirely, may each of the next 365 days bring you a step farther down your path, and a step closer to your dreams. 

Happy New Year!