Entrance Ramps

On the way home from a holiday party, I came to a new perspective on the days between Christmas and New Year’s Day. After some back road twists and turns, I finally reached the interstate where I turned onto the entrance ramp and picked up speed before joining the other cars. I’ve seen people meander down the entrance ramp rather than use it to get up to speed and then try to merge onto the highway at a perilously slow speed. “The ramp is to get you ready for the highway,” someone once pointed out, and I never forgot it.

In the solitude of my car, I realized the days after Christmas and before the new year are like an entrance ramp. They offer us the opportunity to get up to speed before beginning the journey of another year. Some see these days as opportunities to continue feasting knowing the time to diet and exercise will come soon enough. They decide they want to read more but don’t start until the new year begins. They meander through the final days of December then struggle when the new year begins . . . physically, spiritually, and/or professionally.

Better to get ready by picking up speed, deciding what you’ll be working on in the new year, begin moving, and increase your speed. Then, when January 1st arrives, you’ll be moving and able to enter the new year more smoothly.

Happy New Year and good luck!