Champagne, adult-size black and white party hats, noise
makers, confetti, liquor…lots of liquor, fancy clothes and an uninhibited “Let’s
throw caution to the wind!” attitude. Sound familiar? On New Year’s Eve most of
us have this crazy desire to send off the past year with a big bang, energized
by newfound expectations, as if the next day the whole
world will be functioning differently. Even if you are not one to care much for
the party scene and prefer a nice quiet evening at home, most likely on 12-31
you will have some moments of reflection and thoughts of how you may want to do
things differently next year. This is all good and fine, and apparently natural,
but here is my question: Why can’t we treat every day like it is New Year’s
Eve?
When the year comes to a close we choose to somehow
acknowledge the close of one chapter and beginning of the next. You may be
celebrating accomplishments of the past year or celebrating the fact that the
year is over because (for lack of a better word) it sucked! Either way, we all
find our own way of pressing our magic reset button that injects us with hope
and anticipation of what is to come. Somehow the clock turning midnight is an
automatic internal signal that triggers optimism. We reminisce, we recall
heartache, we take pride in successes, we regret, we agonize over mistakes
made, we fall into reverie daydreaming of how we will change for the better, we
feel joy, we feel anger, we feel inspired, we feel bitter, we feel motivation
bubbling and rising from the pit of our core. With all the myriad of feelings
that are weaved together spontaneously, the resulting fabric of our spirit is
infused with the bold color of hope.
Even when we are in turmoil and faced with devastation, the
strength of the human spirit is that it moves forward with hope. Though we may
feel hopeless at times, the fact is if you are alive then hope is present
somewhere inside.
Thank God for hope!
So why can’t we treat every day this way? Every day could be
like New Year’s Eve. We always have the opportunity to press our reset button,
making every day the beginning to a new chapter. Every day accommodates the
spirit of ambition. This year my personal goal is to treat every day as if it
was the last day of the year. I’m going to close up loose ends every day, make attempts at achieving
goals every day, examine my mistakes
to attain wisdom every day, joyfully
reminisce on events that make me happy every
day and conclude with a celebration for being present in this crazy mixed
up world every day! When I wake,
every morning I want to pretend the clock just turned and a new year has just
begun. I want to have hopeful thoughts and feel content that new things…good
things…are to come. I’ll raise my champagne glass (ok, its morning so damn it,
it will have to be filled with milk) and toast to the day that is inspired by nothing
if not by ME! Milk in a champagne glass will symbolize my gratitude for the day
and all that is yet to come. Toasting the day with milk rather than champagne
may not be as fun, but at least I won’t have to worry about getting a DUI and I
won’t have a hangover the next morning! Cheers!
