Regarding The New Year

Let’s try something new this year. A holiday message. A reflection on 2019. My hopes for 2020.

It was cold last night but much of this winter has been warm so far, in my neck of the woods, anyway. Rain instead of snow. There have been only a couple of mornings of frosty roofs and windows. Regardless my bed is still piled high with blankets, old houses can be drafty at times. We still have wind. If we have nothing else these days. We have wind. Plenty of wind. 

Christmas came early this year. Did you notice? People put up their trees and lights when I was still saying good-bye to Halloween and as a result Christmas decorations have come down early too. I’m the only one I know who has not already packed up Christmas. I remember when people didn’t put anything away until after New Year’s had come and gone. I miss that. 

With my father passing in November, once I found the energy to decorate for Christmas, I have held fast to the changes around the house. I don’t want to give my Christmas decorations up, for the simple fact that the inside of my house does not look exactly like it did during his final days. My plan is to have one piece of everyday décor changed in each room by the time Christmas has been put away. A plan that has yet to be implemented. 

New Year’s Eve was not the long, boring night that it has been in previous years. Once I gave up on television and pulled out a book it was quite cozy. As the evening wore on, I stopped to empty out the Happy Moments jar. 

The Happy Moments jar. It’s something that has been circulating our Cyber world for a while. A person writes down on a scrap of paper something good when it happens. A happy moment. Then it is placed in the jar and saved for New Year’s Eve. At the end of the night each moment is taken out and read out loud as a reminder of all of the good things that have happened in life. I adopted it about three years ago. I find that it does two things: it teaches a person to recognize the little joys in everyday life and it is also a reminder that there was good in your year regardless of how a person may be feeling on New Year’s Eve. 

I opened the jar and read. Yes, I did not have a lot of happy moments. More than one or two were tied to Dad and his illness. I had challenging days and false starts in some areas. It was a difficult year.

I was thinking about those moments this morning. Thinking about what I could take away from the exercise. I was reminded that even though we have happy moments some things don’t always have a happy ending. I also recognized that most of the happy moments had to do with me coming out of my comfort zone, taking on bigger challenges, and getting through difficult things. I questioned, I challenged. I went down unfamiliar roads. Sometimes I got hurt. Sometimes I had to step back and rebuild. 

Those kinds of years are good too. It reminds us that somewhere inside there is resilience, there is strength. It might not be fun pulling them out and using them. We might yell, scream, cry, or fight against what’s coming. We can also face it and deal with it. Rebuild, become stronger. Whatever is next might be easier to deal with than it would have been last year or the year before that. 

My hopes for 2020? There is hope. It’s growing slowly. I’m not going share any specifics because I am still identifying them all. I am hoping it gains momentum in the coming weeks and snowballs. I hope that we all have an amazing 2020. I hope that 2020 is a year of positive change for our world and all who live on it. 

Happy New Year Everyone!

May all of your wishes come true.

HR Apostos