The past couple of years, Gloria and I  have taken a mid January vacation in Virgin Gorda, in the British Virgin Islands.  We stay in a villa in a small, quiet resort, and enjoy a re-energizing week of warmth and relaxation.  (Photo is a shot from the rocks looking back on the small beach).  Apart from the obvious (the warmth of the Caribbean) this is always for me a wonderful opportunity for reading, writing and reflection.

This trip, I took Donald Miller’s latest book, “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years“, a wonderful stimulation for the heart and soul, and great cause of reflection for the beginning of a new year and new decade.  Miller’s point is a simple one, a great life will have the ingredients of a great story.  Great stories or movies are full of tension and struggle and overcoming the challenge.  He writes, “Writing a story isn’t about making your peaceful fantasies come true.  The whole point of the story is the character arc. You didn’t think joy could change a person did you?  Joy is what you feel when the conflict is over.  But it’s the conflict that changes a person.” Interesting don’t you think, how we spend so much time and energy trying to keep safe and comfortable, all the while robbing ourselves of the ingredients of a great story.

My time in Virgin Gorda a week ago was wonderfully soothing and pleasant (except for the night I got food poisoning).  While there, we got the news of the horrendous disaster to the north west in Haiti … in the midst of our comfort and pleasure, I was struck with the incredible loss and pain so may were experiencing, cause for deeper thought and reflection indeed.

A Caribbean vacation is a fabulous reprieve in the dead of winter, but one realizes that it is, back home, in the midst of the tensions and challenges of our day to day world, that the real story, and one’s personal character is developed.

Looking ahead on this new year, and this fresh new next dacade, I do wish for you much happiness and prosperity.  I realize however that many are experiencing business challenges and personal tensions.  As challenging and frustrating as struggle can be, it is an important part of that character arc that Miller writes about.  When our difficulties come, we have two choices, we can either become bitter or we can get better, and I think that’s the whole point of the story.

H.Byne