Happy New Year by Janet Jones
Happy New Year!
2013 is only 24 days old…just an infant really…a fresh new year. What is it about that magical turning of the calendar page from December to January that inspires us to think maybe this is the year when all of our dreams will come true? This is the year we get the book published, get that new job, catch a break or even win the lottery. Maybe it’s simply the American work ethic. Society teaches us that if we work hard enough we will get our reward. If we are only good enough, than only good things will happen. If only that were really true.
Actually the start of my new year was the opposite of dreams coming true. I dropped a heavy glass of water on my toe resulting in a bone contusion that will keep me away from my beloved tennis for six weeks. I also caught the flu—which I am still trying to recover from. I have literally spent the last couple of weeks lying on the couch watching Harry Potter movies…my surefire method of coping with physical misery. In my defense, the plotting in those movies is excellent. So I was doing research, sort of.
I am just as gullible as everyone else to the fresh start stuff. I used to be an avid schedule maker. I would leave scraps of paper everywhere with hour by hour schedules to cram as much work toward my goals as possible. I was confident that given enough structure I could get more hours to fit in one day. On one of my lists I discovered a word written in my husband’s handwriting—“lunch?” In my zeal I had neglected to schedule any time for nourishment during the day. Superwoman indeed!
Since I’ve stopped trying to structure each hour of the day and let life roll merrily along in its own haphazard fashion, I have discovered a truth or two along the way. The promise of the New Year is not about our gullibility–with a false pretense of control over events. It’s about that indomitable spirit rampant in our hearts. It’s about hope.
Alfred Tennyson said, “Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come…Whispering ‘it will be happier’…”
Hope is that spark within us that refuses to be snuffed out by illness, despair or poverty. It flames up at times to fuel our passion for writing, for loving, for living. Always, it simply keeps glowing, a steady burning ember warming our hearts with the promise of new beginnings, fresh starts, and newly found joy.
I hope 2013 is kind to you, my friend, and brings you some of the stuff that makes dreams come true. Or at the very least, that it brings a whisper of hope for a prosperous, happier new year.
Janet I am sure that as soon as that toe is healed you will be back to playing tennis. I know that you miss that very much. Everytime I go to your home you are watching tennis on TV and sending your husband in the livingroom to watch his football games on the other TV. He doesn’t mind. He is a great husband and Father. You did get around well with that knee walker that you had in Florida. We did lots of walking at The Naples Botantical Gardens and Corkscrew swamp. Love
Mom
Thanks Mother!