“The greatest adventure is what lies ahead.
Today and tomorrow have yet to be said.
The chances, the changes, are all yours to make.
The mold of your life is in your hands to break.”

– From “The Greatest Adventure,” The Hobbit (animated, 1977)

I watched this movie with my nephew a few weeks ago, and it just screamed as something perfect for entering a new year. 🙂

Bilbo Baggins, like most of his people, is and almost always has been quite content to live a quiet, peaceful life. There’s no shame in that, of course, but his encounter with the wizard Gandalf and the dwarves of Thorin’s company awakens something else in him. It is also no bad thing to go afield, to see what lies beyond the horizon, beyond one’s comfortable home. When faced with the choice to do one or the other, Bilbo is considers it for much of the night and into the next morning. What is he to do? What does he want to do?

We all know what he chooses, of course. He goes with the dwarves and the wizard to face monsters, meet wondrous creatures, and stumble onto a golden ring. He never dreamed he’d play such a pivotal role, saving lives and even nudging history, just a bit, in a better direction. Imagine if he’d chosen to stay at home instead!

In short, Bilbo took a chance and made a change, had an adventure, and though he went back to his peaceful life, even in that, the course of his life was altered, as was the destiny of the world. He broke the mold and made it his own.

And on that note, Happy New Year! 🙂