THE BEST THINGS ABOUT NEW YEAR'S!

I seem to get mellower every year in my thoughts and expectations about the New Year, but I still have fun thinking about it. On New Year’s Eve Day I envision how my friends in Australia are celebrating. After all, they’re hours and hours ahead of us. Eventually I even get to see the fireworks on display in Sydney. Then on New Year’s Eve itself I often get a call from friends in Germany or England who are celebrating at the bewitching 12:00 hour. I love seeing the fireworks in London and imagine what it would be like to be there, as well as Time Square in New York. When the New Year finally rolls around in the land of Minnesota Nice, I’ve already felt that I’ve done my share of celebrating.  In past years I sometimes watched fireworks in Minneapolis over the river, and they were quite spectacular.  Now I’m just content to spend time with a friend and watch a good movie or have dinner together.  My wants and needs have become much simpler. So with the year 2013 rapidly approaching, I wish you all the best of health and happiness, however you might define it.  Here are a few thoughts from others that made me laugh or ponder a little longer. A few of them I’m going to try to incorporate.

“An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in.  A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.”  (Bill Vaughan)

“A New Year’s resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.”  (unknown)

“Many people look forward to the New Year for a new start on old habits.”  (unknown)

“Cheers to a new year and another chance to get it right.”  (Oprah Winfrey)

“People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between New Year’s and Christmas.”  (unknown)

“One resolution I have made, and try always to keep is this:  To rise above the little things.”  (John Burroughs)

“We spend January first walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched.  Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives . . . not looking for flaws, but for potential.”  (Ellen Goodman)

 

 

Our daughter 36 years ago

 

photo of Minnehaha Falls by Heinz Richter

 

 

special pals

 

And one final thought:  I’m going to work harder in 2013 to appreciate the simple joys that surround us every day, including the beauty and mystery of nature.