A New Year

As I write this, the year 2008 has less than 2 hours left before it dies of old age. Many of us will probably be glad to see it go. But in spite of the heartaches, the pains, the disappointments, the fact remains that we made it here.....we are about to embark on a new year. With all of its faults, 2008 was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrance, never to be seen again. And much of what happened to us during that year were things that we might have changed or done in a different and better way. Likewise the new, not yet born 2009 will be, to a great extent, what we make of it.

I am not stupid enough (well, I guess I AM that stupid, but nevertheless....) to think that all that happens to us is under our control, but even when fate, or chance, or luck, throws us a curve, how we handle it IS under our control. And we can make a choice as to how we handle that bad break...either it beats us or we beat it. Of that we do have control. I'm sure that all of you reading this (all 3 of us) can think of someone we have known who seems almost to thrive on bad happenings. Every piece of bad news is embraced as a reason to bemoan the fates, to cry and sigh, to toss in the towel and sink into a funk. And I suspect we also know of people who can't seem to stay down, who get it on the chin over and over again by the breaks in life and yet are still upbeat, are happy, are optimistic and eager to get on with life. Think about it for a moment. Who do we enjoy being around? Who do we remember long after they are no longer here? Who do we wish we could be like? The person who is gutsy enough to take what life gives and work with it somehow is the one we admire and want to emulate.

And now with the birth of a new year, we can do that. For those who believe in New Year's resolutions, what better resolution than one to try and work for that goal of personal courage and strength in the face of hard times? I'm certainly no prophet or soothsayer, but I guess that there are some serious hard times ahead for us. But that doesn't mean that all is lost. It means that there will be a need for strong people, people who can "suck it up and get on with life" even when things are rough going. One step, then another.....one obstacle overcome and then another, and always with a smile and the inner peace that comes from the belief in what we are and what we can and should be. Hard times sometimes are needed to help us to see what is worthwhile, what should be preserved and protected, and what is useless fluff to be discarded and not mourned.

Are we up to it?

Am I up to it?

I don't know, but maybe that's why I've been given a new year, to find out if I'm up to the challenge. A new year, fresh and untouched, to be used by me, by each of us, either to strengthen us and better us, or to grind and wear us down. It's there, neither good nor bad; it just is. What we do to it and with it is what is important.

Have a great new year!!!