"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Let our New Year's resolution be this: we will be there for one another as fellow members of humanity, in the finest sense of the word."
- Goran Persson (former Prime Minister of Sweden)
Well, it's January again. What does that mean you ask? I think you know. That means, that everyone is all gung-ho about getting skinny and fit, everyone wants to do better with their finances, and everyone has projects or goals they wish to accomplish in the new year. The new year, 2013. Can you believe it? Remember Y2K, year 2000? That was 13 years ago y'all. I was 12 years old. Remember how the world was going to come to an end as technology failed us and we were destined to run out of water? Good times. And then last year, we were again destined to all burn and die as the end of the Mayan calendar approached on December 21, 2012. We somehow managed to survive that too. Because sometimes humans make silly assumptions.
There is nothing wrong with resolving to be better in the year(s) to come. Most of us participate in new resolve for a new year. There is something refreshing about it. Here in the South, maybe lots of women resolved to cook with less butter and grease for health reasons. Maybe the yankees resolved to be nicer to strangers. Who knows what people have planned for their futures?
Personally, there are a lot of things I wish to pursue this year. For instance, I hope to be 3/4s of the way finished with my Master's degree by the end of the year. I also hope to be 40 pounds lighter. And who doesn't want to be more physically fit I ask you? Good Lord willing and the creek don't rise, I will have accomplished all of these things. Also, I have recently taken up sewing, and anticipate continuing that endeavor. For the moment, every lady I know should be on the lookout for an apron coming her way, as that is the only thing I even remotely know how to sew at present, and what I have a pattern for. (Well, they could anticipate getting one if I could afford it.) Finances: of course I want them to improve, but as a destitute graduate student, I can only hope to stay afloat it seems.
(Un)Fortunately for me, the beginning of the year also means that I must celebrate turning another year older. I believe that this will be the first year I have a problem with my birthday. Oh how I will miss those days when I looked forward to it. I'm not that old. In fact, I am certainly still in my prime, my youth for that matter. And no I will not spell out for you how old I am, since I have already provided the numbers above for you to figure it out yourself. But still, the closer I get to thirty, the more aware of forty I become. Ridiculous isn't it? I suppose that's human nature, since I know I'm not the only one who has ever felt that way. I certainly remember how hard 40 was for my mother (and I hope she won't kill me for writing this.) So I resolved on her 40th birthday to make her feel as young as I could. I bought her a coloring book and a Disney movie if I recall correctly. She also received a lot of gag gifts and ribbing from the family, but the important thing was that we were all there for her and with her to celebrate her extraordinary life, up to that point, of 40 years. I hope that I can be surrounded by the same warmth at such a fine age. (40 is the new 30, don't you know.) For my father, 50 was the hard year. It seems like that one is harder for men. So for him I gathered his closest friends and family (who also supplied gag gifts) and we played dominoes and cards all evening into the night, just enjoying each others' company, having our cake and eating it too. (Also, I may have posted signs all around for both of these celebrations to make sure everyone was aware that my parents were alive and well at age 40 and 50.) Come to think of it, I don't know why I'm so worried about getting older. Those birthdays celebrations remain very fond memories for me, as I hope they do for my parents. I guess I can only hope to one day have a daughter as thoughtful as theirs. ;)
So, birthdays and the new year. Most people will have one this year. If they don't, well, that's unfortunate. But everyone gets the chance for a new beginning, a chance to change something they want to change, or achieve something they want to achieve. Goals and accomplishments keep us going, don't they? Investing in ourselves and others is the most fulfilling thing in the world, is it not? Sure it also opens us up to the risk of failure or heartache, but in the end it's the only way to grow. So this year, I wish you health and happiness, the ability to invest where it is wisest, and personal growth that makes you a better human being. As Emerson said, every day is the best day: to start that weight loss program, to stop spending and start saving, to book that trip to the Southern city of your choice and open yourself up to Southern hospitality at it's finest...there's no day like today, so take advantage because no one is promised a tomorrow.
Happy New Year, and good luck on your new beginning.
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