A quiet New Year's Eve. I don't go out and freeze to welcome in "First Night" or "First Morning" or whatever it is. I'd prefer to be sound asleep long before midnight. I noticed a long time ago that 12:01AM looks an awful lot like 10:01PM and I prefer the latter. Himself made a lovely meal. It was an Indian curry. I served as sous chef by cutting garlic and chili peppers. About the peppers...three hours later (after washing my hands thoroughly, I thought) I rubbed my eye. Yikes. Well, that's the perfect end to a year that I won't mind kicking to the curb.
A long time ago I was at one of the few New Year's Eve parties I have ever deigned to attend. At 12:30 the host looked at his watch and said, "Well, good night and Happy New Year!" I thought he was kidding. Until he said something that I have made a bit of a mantra ever since, and I quote: "Nothing good ever happens after 1 AM." Every time I hear a scary story on the news I check the time, and sure enough, David was right.
I don't do resolutions. Oh, I have a long list of good intentions, but I have them every day when I wake up. There is no magic to the first of January. I know what I need to do and I know the calendar is not going to be the incentive to do them. But every day I re-commit and sometimes I succeed in spite of myself. I have, actually, stopped smoking. OK...that took getting pregnant at the age of 39, but I've been good ever since. The weight goes up, the weight goes down. I'm not obsessing any more, although I would like to look good enough at my niece's wedding in September to actually appear in the pictures. And there's always the chance she'll ask me to sing. And I should write more because I really do enjoy it. But that's not a New Year's resolution. That's a decision I made years ago and I'm making progress in my own good (slow) time.
As a new year starts I look back with longing at people I am forced to leave behind. But looking back is not a good idea. That's not the direction in which I'm going. So I'll look forward. I wonder what the new year will bring, but I am not worried about it. Whatever it is, I have the confidence born of knowing that I have a 100% record of surviving whatever has been thrown at me up to now. If I stop to think about it my wish for the new year is that we will all pray more and laugh more. The rest of it has a way of working itself out if you give it enough time.
Happy New Year. And good night.
A long time ago I was at one of the few New Year's Eve parties I have ever deigned to attend. At 12:30 the host looked at his watch and said, "Well, good night and Happy New Year!" I thought he was kidding. Until he said something that I have made a bit of a mantra ever since, and I quote: "Nothing good ever happens after 1 AM." Every time I hear a scary story on the news I check the time, and sure enough, David was right.
I don't do resolutions. Oh, I have a long list of good intentions, but I have them every day when I wake up. There is no magic to the first of January. I know what I need to do and I know the calendar is not going to be the incentive to do them. But every day I re-commit and sometimes I succeed in spite of myself. I have, actually, stopped smoking. OK...that took getting pregnant at the age of 39, but I've been good ever since. The weight goes up, the weight goes down. I'm not obsessing any more, although I would like to look good enough at my niece's wedding in September to actually appear in the pictures. And there's always the chance she'll ask me to sing. And I should write more because I really do enjoy it. But that's not a New Year's resolution. That's a decision I made years ago and I'm making progress in my own good (slow) time.
As a new year starts I look back with longing at people I am forced to leave behind. But looking back is not a good idea. That's not the direction in which I'm going. So I'll look forward. I wonder what the new year will bring, but I am not worried about it. Whatever it is, I have the confidence born of knowing that I have a 100% record of surviving whatever has been thrown at me up to now. If I stop to think about it my wish for the new year is that we will all pray more and laugh more. The rest of it has a way of working itself out if you give it enough time.
Happy New Year. And good night.
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