Ah, New Year’s Day. A new year dawns, bringing its enormous potential, some serious risks, and plenty of chances to break those resolutions. (Yum, coffee ice cream, and what about a bacon sandwich on white bread – with butter?)

We peer out into the new year, looking at the tea leaves, attempting to divine some curve in the road. But all portents are essentially blind, so we go forth as sightless runners.

Just before the starting gun sounds, we have a moment for spirtual inventory. The famous poem “Desiderata” offers some guidance. It’s rumored to have been found in a church in 1629, though in fact it was written by Max Ehrmann in the 1920s.

Here’s an excerpt:

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 with your soul.