For 2011, today is the Chinese New Year and ushers in the Year of the Rabbit. A placid year, the Year of the Rabbit will be very much welcomed and needed after the ferocious Year of the Tiger. According to the Chinese philosophy, good taste and refinement will shine on everything and people will acknowledge that persuasion is better than force. The Year of the Rabbit should be a congenial time in which diplomacy, international relations and politics will be given a front seat again. We will act with discretion and make reasonable concessions without too much difficulty.
It is also a time to watch out that we do not become too indulgent. The influence of the Rabbit tends to spoil those who like too much comfort and thus impair their effectiveness and sense of duty.
In this auspicious year, our lifestyles will tend to be languid and leisurely as we allow ourselves the luxuries of a slower paced life. For once, it may seem possible for us to be carefree and happy without too many annoyances.
Being born in a Metal Rabbit year myself, I plan to luxuriate in "my" year. Rabbits can be rather congenial, but we also enjoy our space. I look forward to walking placidly through this healing year in my life, taking the time to reflect on my Creator and the reasons why He has set me on this path in this particular time in history - and taking time to reflect on the words of Desiderata, with its words of wisdom written almost 100 years ago.
desiderata - by max ehrmann
Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.
Take kindly to the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
Max Ehrmann c.1920
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