In
many ways, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are days like every other in the
year … one day turning into night turning into another day. And yet on 31st December each year
of the Gregorian calendar, many people around the world will celebrate that
natural phenomenon. New Year is a man-made construct. The world continues turning just as it always
does every day. Man created the calendar; man created the concept of time in an
attempt to bring order to our increasingly civilised lives around the changes
of the natural world.
In
some ways, I like the idea of ‘new year.’
It’s good to have a time to reflect back on the year that’s passed and
to begin to look forward to the year ahead.
And to know that millions of other people around the world are
potentially doing a similar thing feeds into that human need to belong, to feel
a part of something bigger than oneself.
For me, that’s part of the uniqueness of New Year; on no other evening
throughout the year are so many people celebrating, focusing on or experiencing
the clock chimes of midnight with such anticipation. And to think of people around the world
celebrating as the year turns in their time zone … like a global tidal wave of
time and celebration.
It
can quite a melancholic time of year too as we reflect on the people, loves,
pets, and other things that have been lost throughout the year. A lot can change in a person’s life from the
midnight chimes of one New Year’s Day to another and it can sometimes be
difficult or even painful, to reflect on those changes. Conversely, it can be a time of celebration
of a year of achievements, happiness, love and good things experienced.
The
ending of one year and beginning of a new one can also be a time of hope and
optimism as people look forward to good things they hope to achieve or
experience. A new year can feel like a
clean page in a book, just waiting to be filled with happy tales & images. And I guess this is where people would write
their New Year Resolutions … hopes, goals and aims for the year ahead. For some people, these resolutions will be
fulfilled; for others they turn into disappointments when they’re unable to live
up to the goals they’ve set for themselves.
For
myself, I like the opportunity to stand where I am right now today; to look
over my shoulder at the year gone by and to decide which learnings from the
previous twelve months to bring with me and which things to leave behind. To also look forward in the direction in
which I’m heading and to catch a glimpse or two of the experiences ahead of me
in the coming year. An exciting place to
be as we can never know what the future holds for us. We can make plans and resolutions, but
sometimes life has other ideas for us … & that’s both scary an exciting.
I’m
looking forward with excitement and anticipation to whatever 2012 has in store
for me. I intend to make the most of the
opportunities I can create for myself and to negotiate as best I can the detours
life might just choose to lead me on.
Wishing you all a fulfilling, growthful
and satisfying 2012, x
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