"New Year's Day is every man's birthday." ~ Charles Lamb
The holidays are coming to an end for 2012 and frankly, I always feel some kind of weight has been lifted when a new year is approaching. It never mattered much to me whether I made new resolutions and kept them or simply didn't make any at all. Every year, when the ball at Times Square falls, I think of one thing. LOVE.
When I was younger, I had one wish at New Year's. It was that I would fall hopelessly in love and find someone who could love me with all of my idiosyncrasies. I found him. He has a bunch of idiosyncrasies too, but hey, if you're looking for perfection, you will remain alone. Human beings are not perfect. We have all kinds of frailties and faults but when we find love, love rescues us even when we're not looking to be rescued.
I want people to love what they do for a living. I wish for all of us to get off the roller coaster of the ridiculous pressure that every corporate or public service position has been handing off to each employee. You hear this from everyone, every where. The middle class is working its fingers to the bones only to be honored by more layoffs, skeleton crews and expectations that simply are not attainable. We should love what we do. We should have a passion for our work. If we don't love what we do, we should find the courage to do what we feel passionate about and dedicate ourselves to without looking back.
On that same thought, I want us to love our children. Forget about the fiscal cliff, unless we all cooperate and teach our young people to respect a good education and have a serious work ethic, the new years ahead will be filled with mediocrity and apathy. Other countries understand this. We should too. Forget about the fiscal cliff folks. It's our children we need to be concerned about more than dollars and cents.
I want us to the earth. I want us to respect nature and its relationship to mankind. I want us to not dread a snow storm but to walk in it. I want us to understand that with every news-breaking natural disaster comes a bigger warning about sensationalism. Respect nature and mankind will survive. Forget about nature and we will continue to see how it reacts to us in the most violent of ways.
I want us to love each other. We have had two wars overseas, sucking us dry financially and spiritually. I want us to look at each other and accept the differences we have and perhaps learn from each other at the same time. There isn't one person that has become my friend, that I haven't learned something valuable from them at some point. Surround yourself with strong people with a sense of humor and you can overcome just about anything. I want those who are so desperate to fall in love to remember that nothing good comes from desperation. I know those feelings well and it never served me well. I made more mistakes when I felt desperate. I have had more success when I took my time and used my gut to tell me what was right.
So to those who read this column, "Happy New Year!" Kiss your loved ones, kiss a stranger when the clock strikes twelve! Those who are strangers often become best friends and well, even husbands or wives. Take a chance! Tell each and every person who means something to you that you love them and admire their grace and their strength. Let 2013 be the year we embrace change and embrace ourselves. Let us not be indifferent but let us BE different without guilt. Happy 2013 everyone!!! Uncork the champagne!
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