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Face it. For most of us, end of the year reviews are easier than ones we conduct in March and April.<\/p>\nFace it. For most of us, end of the year reviews are easier than ones we conduct in March and April.<\/p>\n
We vow to be kinder to ourselves and others. We contemplate a wide range of self-improvements; from losing weight to taking a class. But we know accommodations can be made easily. Most resolutions can be postponed, revisited.<\/p>\n
But, April 15th<\/sup> tax reconciliation and filing, is harder to ignore. It\u2019s mandated by law. There\u2019s always the possibility of an external audit.<\/p>\n It\u2019s an inescapable annual ritual for self-judgment. We ask ourselves whether we made enough money the previous year, whether we chose a clever enough accountant.<\/p>\n In preparation, we receive statements of income from employers and, if we\u2019re lucky, from investment houses and summaries of charitable contributions.<\/p>\n There are computer programs and all sorts of tools to help us keep financial records. They\u2019re all offshoots of the same concept.<\/p>\n Ledgers, registers, balance sheets, financial statements\u2026 We learn the concepts of accounting and record-keeping as children. We keep lists and run our lives by them.<\/p>\n Santa keeps a list of who\u2019s been naughty or nice.\u00a0 We learn at a tender age about wins and losses.<\/p>\n Many of us get so attached to the idea of winning that it\u2019s easy to forget what we were setting out to accomplish. Winning is not the same thing as cultivating excellence or experience being part of a team.<\/p>\n And paying taxes (or avoiding paying them) has become one of the most concrete ways we can employ to measure ourselves.<\/p>\n Concrete and measurable is not necessarily the best lens for seeing the truth. Just easier. Who can argue with the numbers, right?<\/p>\n I stress at this time of year, even though my income is not high nor are my accounting methods particularly suspicious.<\/p>\n In general, I don\u2019t like measurements. I don\u2019t like the idea of reducing an experience to a summary of figures.<\/p>\n Many people declare a vacation as good if they get a deeply discounted airfare. Gift-giving etiquette emphasizes the importance of \u201cpaying for your plate,\u201d spending what might be commensurate with the cost of hosting you, not on how to choose something that might delight who you\u2019re gifting.<\/p>\n Experiences are often judged good or bad if they can be checked off a list.<\/p>\n I value experiences for many different reasons. I may choose to do something with strangers instead of friends. I may choose to do something the same way every day or seek opportunities to do things I\u2019ll never do again.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve heard the expression, \u201cit\u2019s all good\u201d and have seen people regard these words with doubt. I have uttered these words myself, not sure I fully bought in, but I think I\u2019m starting to understand.<\/p>\n I wondered: How could human beings like things that aren\u2019t overflowing with what they have always wanted? How could anyone not have preferences? How could anyone throw their ledgers and lists away?<\/p>\n I can\u2019t imagine a world where I like Brussels sprouts or not look forward to a day of sunshine. But I try to leave room for things that are not known desirables.<\/p>\n The spirit of IT\u2019S ALL GOOD is simply about not being attached to getting what you think you want, staying open to possibilities and finding joy in unexpected ways. Not referring to your list or balance sheet and using figures, not feelings, to gauge how you\u2019re doing, takes practice.<\/p>\n Completely buying into \u201cit\u2019s all good\u201d is no small thing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Face it. For most of us, end of the year reviews are easier than ones…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8988,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,632],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-weekly-blog","grateful-dozen-musings-imaginings"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n