It was 5:38 am, local time in the Riviera Maya; we had spent the evening dining with family, partying on the beach with our new friends, dancing the night away at the disco, and then lounging around on empty beach chairs, using towels as blankets to ward off the chilly ocean breeze, and now, after what seemed like hours of waiting and anticipation, we looked to the horizon and saw the first glimpse of 2014. The bright Caribbean sun reared its glorious head and there we were, in awe of both its beauty and of our determination in staying awake to witness this glorious moment – the very first sunrise of 2014, from a beach in Mexico nonetheless. Blessings, challenges, accomplishments and relationships from the past year washed away, and onward we looked to the new goals, realities and aspirations for 2014. Truly, this was my most marvellous embrace of the new year. In the words of one of my favourite artists, Jamie Cullum: “next year… gonna read more books, gonna keep up with the news, gonna learn how to cook & spend less money on shoes.”
