12 PlayFull Practices for a New Year
by Troy Cady
We hear it
frequently every December and January: “Happy New Year!”
This is
surely an important time of year. It is a season of renewal. Now that I am
older, I am beginning to cherish the celebration of a New Year more and more.
Hearing so many people wishing others a Happy New Year gives me hope because it’s
really a simple way of blessing others. No matter who I meet, no matter who I
see this time of year, I can look them in the eye and say Happy New Year with a
full and sincere heart.
This simple
three-word wish gives me hope because I see it as a small way in which we can
set aside our petty differences to acknowledge the common humanity we share,
the sacredness of every soul we meet. It is actually an opportunity to acknowledge
that we are all works-in-progress, that we all share hardship and joy, that we
all need grace, that everyone desires to have a happy life—and that our own
happiness is connected to the happiness of others.
Our
declaration of Happy New Year indicates to me that we instinctively know
something essential about happiness: namely, it cannot be hoarded. The more it
is shared, the stronger it grows in one’s own life. The happiness of my
neighbor in no way diminishes my own happiness. On the contrary, as I wish my
neighbor true happiness, I experience the happiness that comes with such a
wish.
This year I
am mindful that the previous year was especially difficult for many people.
Many of us are just plain dog-tired because of tragedy, conflict, hatred, chaos
and confusion. Many people feel as if they have been put on trial, harassed and
helpless. Many feel as though the slightest incorrect utterance will result in
societal contempt and relational exile. Many are walking on eggshells, afraid
of judgement. Others feel the human footprint on the world has become
debased—little more than “rats’ feet over broken glass in our dry cellar.”
(T.S. Eliot)
And yet, we
find it in ourselves to persevere. Year after year, we say Happy New Year and
with those three little words we declare: “I am not resigned. Let’s hope
together. Let’s hope for a better future. Let’s lay aside our cursing and bless
each other instead.”
This
commitment to renewal is how humanity has survived and flourished for thousands
of years. We see ourselves in light of the power and grace of time—and, as the
cycle turns, we say: “Let’s keep going. Let’s not give up. Let’s change what
needs to be changed and let’s hold on to what truly endures. Let’s forgive what
we’ve done wrong and let’s work towards healing and reconciliation.”
……………….
The writers
of The Anatomy of Peace describe well
what it takes to effect change. We nurture healthy change in two basic ways:
1. Helping
things go right, and
2. Correcting
things that go wrong.
The authors
assert that, if we want an environment that is healthy and life-giving, we will
spend most of our time and energy on the former—and, therefore, very little
time and energy on the latter. It sounds so simple, doesn’t it? The more time
we spend helping things go right, the less time we have to spend correcting
things that go wrong.
But that is
easier said than done. If we are to spend most of our time helping things go
right, we need to be intentional and deliberate about it. Good habits tend to
be cultivated like flowers. Bad habits tend to grow easily like weeds. Being
human is hard work sometimes (maybe: most of the time). Despite that, I’m
convinced the work of being a healthy human doesn’t have to be burdensome. I’m
convinced the kind of work it takes to be healthy is actually delightful, even
playful. Those who learn to enjoy their work are as healthy soil: seeds sown in
such enriched earth produce a stronger, more abundant crop.
When the
disposition of the heart is positively inclined, there is little room for the
negative. If we would ever be able to spend all our time practicing what is
good, we would have no time to practice what is harmful to us and others. Of
course, that is the ideal—but it doesn’t play out in reality. That’s why any
attempt to practice what is good needs to include grace—grace for yourself and
grace for others.
Grace is
life’s great trump card. If you were to pick only one thing to practice to
“help things go right” it would be the practice of giving and receiving grace.
In my PlayFull ministry, I put it this way: Grace is the soul’s way of playing.
Grace is precisely the way we “play from the inside out.”
Grace is
important because it reminds me that the way to a better life, the way to work
for a better world, is not simply a matter of “mind over matter.” Though I
advocate the power of a positive mindset, I do not wish to give you the
impression that that is all one needs to have a happy life. After all, I can
still hurt someone while thinking positively about myself (I know: because I do
it sometimes). Positive thinking only gets me so far. Positive practices get me farther—and grace
reminds me I’m still a work in progress (as are others).
But I am
getting ahead of myself now: I’ll write more about Grace in the days to come.
As a start,
here are the twelve practices I hope to live by this year and I invite you to
join me. Because twelve might seem like an awful lot to pursue, feel free to
narrow the list or substitute something on the list to suit you. I offer these
twelve because they make sense to me but I also figure they might resonate with
you, too—because, I’m convinced, these particular practices have a sense of timelessness to them. That is, they will
always be valuable practices, no
matter what year it is. Here they are:
1. Offer hospitality.
2. Share special celebrations.
3. Express gratitude.
4. Befriend silence.
5. Practice wholly (holy) listening.
6. Take care of your body.
7. Remember to rest; enjoy Sabbath.
8. Give and receive grace.
9. Give generously.
10. Keep learning.
11. Serve.
12. Play.
In the days
to come, I will write a little about each practice. I hope you find my
observations helpful and I wish all of you the happiest of days in 2018.
May Joy and
Peace Flourish,
Troy
