A New Year… A New Opportunity

Well the holidays are over and a new year has begun. Time for resolutions to be set and often then not quickly broken.  I have given up on resolutions at this time of the year… It is too much like setting ones self up for failure.  I learned quickly via last year’s occurrences that there are too many things in life that one can not plan for.  Taking one day at a time seems to work best for me at this time in my life.
 

Change comes to all it seems eventually.  Sometimes it is a gradual occurrence that we may not even notice.  Then at other times it is like a wave crashing on top of us.  Causing us to lose our footing and fall flat on our butts.  Either way we experience it. 
 

I am not sure what 2013 will have in store for us all.  It seems that life is only getting more complicated.  There are the looming political issues that are plastered across the TV each day.  Fiscal Cliffs and Financial Landslides.  There are the senseless acts of violence and aggression against so many who are unable to defend themselves.  And lets not forget the lack of concern that man has acquired for this wonderful earth we live on and the great need to take care of it so that we will not eventually destroy  ourselves.  Yes, it all sounds quite dismal when it is put into such a context.  But I still see hope.  I know there are those out there who still do not think in such a way. 
 

I know there are those who despite the complacency we have learned to live with over the years, are not crippled by these things.  There are still those who do not feel that everything needs to be done for us simply because we are entitled.  That pulling ourselves up by our boot straps and fixing ourselves is what life really is.  We understand the great need for attention to this earth and the nurturing and care that is needed to sustain it for those to come.  And the violence that seems to be so rampant and unexplainable.  The mindless acts that seem to keep occurring with no apparent reason of explanation.  I am not sure about this one.  I only think that we need to be there for one another.  To keep an open eye and ear to concerns that may arise.  To listen to the sounds around us and not simply to the little world that so many of us have built up around us and ours so that the ugly world will not intrude.  Although at times it seems the only true defense. 
 

I grew up in a small rural town.  It was simpler times and instead of stagnant afternoons of mindless video games, we spent our time in the fresh air and sunshine.  I know that life is still there.  I mean… there is always sunshine and relatively fresh air outdoors.  Yet it calls for a change.  It calls for a turn in what is the normal day for most. A little extra effort if you please.  I know that one can not change all yet if one becomes many a shift can be felt.  I pray for this year to see that shift.  If only a small one, I pray it comes. 
 

May all of you have a truly wonderful new year, filled with new wonders and experiences that truly bless you.  Remember even the events that may at first seem dismal can turn out to give you blessings in the end.