Welcoming the New Year by Bea Tifton

  Filling in for the lovely and talented (and ill) Caroline Clemmons.

Last night during the evening news, the commercials were dominated by weight loss ads. This morning, as I watch one of the news magazine shows, every story is about resolutions, things to do at the first of a new year.

One story encourages people to do all their routine medical screenings. I do all of those in December as I’m frantically trying to beat January when my health insurance deductible starts over. And as far as losing weight, I started in October, but I’m aiming for a new lifestyle rather than a temporary diet. 

What is it about the new year that prompts us to make all these lists? We plan total reformations, and sometimes fantasize that from now on our lives will be perfect. Well, I’m all for optimism but really, turning the calendar to a new January page isn’t really a magic button.

The concept of starting over and making resolutions stretches across many cultures and countries. For Lunar New Year, many people completely clean their whole house and sweep out all the bad luck from the previous year. I need to adopt that one!

We had a tough year. Caroline and Hero took turns getting seriously sick, and I got sick several times myself. We were ill over the Christmas holidays, and while we did manage a good, but dialed down,   

Christmas, I keep thinking, Is it over? Did we really just celebrate Christmas and the New Year? Is it already time to go back to real life and our regular routine?

Perhaps the draw for the blank page thinking associated with the new year is our way of rejuvenating. It’s a wonderful sense of renewal, a do over. We get to tweak our lives. In a world filled with scary, hard things, it’s greeting the new year with optimism and hope. We don’t have to remain stagnate or helplessly stuck. I love that. So, make all those resolutions. Sweep out the old year and welcome the new. It’s gonna be a good one, I just feel it.

Photo Credits: 
Pexels.com MARTPRODUCTION "A Woman Looking at the Mirror"
Pexels.com Yaroslav Shurgev "A Woman in Long Dress Standing on a Porch Holding a Broom"
Pixabay RosZie "Goals" 
Pexels.com Jill Wellington "Happy Person Silhouett Photo of Woman"