It's Clean Slate Time

Thought for the day:  Cheers to a new year and another chance to get it right.  Oprah Winfrey

Janus  [Wikipedia]

This is the time of year I usually get a little two-faced. Like Janus, I find myself looking both backward and forward each time a new year begins. There's a certain sadness in closing the book on another year. A sense of loss for the people who've passed from our lives, nostalgia for joyous events now over and done with, and perhaps even a touch of regret for decisions made and opportunities missed. But, you know what? It's a BRAND NEW YEAR, people! It's okay to think about the past year, or even about all our past years, but let's not forget to look forward, too. If we spend too much time staring into the rear view mirror, how can we possibly appreciate the wide open road in front of us, and all the beautiful sights along the way?  Sure, we're all a year older, but doggone it, we're STILL Born to Be Wild. (sorta)

Okay, so we're not as young and fresh-faced as we used to be. Big whoop. We all have a brand new, soft-as-a-baby's-butt year ahead of us, and the possibilities are endless. We're all been given a clean slate, and it's up to us to grab the chalk and start scribbling.

I suppose the notion of a clean slate explains the age-old tradition of starting each new year with a long list of resolutions, and a determination to get it right. As Mark Twain said, Now is the time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.

Do you make resolutions? Not me. The only resolution I make is not to make any resolutions. I mean, why set myself up for failure? This would be me: Dear Lord, so far this year, I've done really well. I haven't overeaten, said anything stupid, forgotten anything important, skipped my daily exercise, or forgotten to floss. I'm very thankful for that, but in a few minutes, I have to actually get out of bed, and from then on, I'm probably gonna need a lot of help.

Oscar Wilde said, Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account. And, well, golly, I sure don't want to do that, now, do I? Better to make plans or set goals, but for me? Never, never, never call it a resolution.

[Morguefile image]

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in; a pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.  Bill Vaughn

Whether you consider yourself an optimist or pessimist, 2014 is kaput. It's a clear case of in one year and out the other. Perhaps the champagne bottle is empty, and the candles extinguished, but there will be other bottles, and hope can always light the way, if you let it.

And, you know what? If you think about it, what lies behind us doesn't really matter all that much, and neither does what lies before us. When you get right down to it, the most important thing is what lies within us.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! [Morguefile image]

In the new year, may your right hand be stretched out in friendship, but never in want.

Until next time, take care of yourselves. And each other.