Can you really look ahead?
Really?
I think the answer is a solid, world-class “maybe”.
Perhaps I can go as far as “sort of”.
What I think the world needs is more “Old Years Resolutions”.
The word “resolution” is an interesting study in duplicity. You might be “resolved” to take an action in the future, or you may have “resolved” events that have already taken place.
People these days are so busy lily pad hopping from one dalliance to the next, from the 2011 model of themselves to the “new and improved” 2012 edition; they forget to tie up the loose ends. After a few years of this, we’ll all wind up looking like those little troll pencils after being spun a few thousand times.
You want to do great things in 2012?
You want to make it happen?
Why don’t you start with all the wonderful things did in 2011?
Examples :
1) Life – According to the World Heath Bureau, about 57 million people died in 2011. You were not one of them (if you were, please send me some info on the afterlife and what really happened to Amelia Earhart). No matter what went on…you made it through! Well done! Of all the things we take for granted, the next breath has no peer.
2) Health – Whatever your ailment(s), there is someone worse off than you. Probably a LOT worse off. People with a faulty organ may not even know it. Those who know it might be incorrectly treated. Those correctly treated might be waiting for a transplant. Those with a transplant may or may not receive the organ well. Those receiving the organ well may get hit by a bus walking out of the hospital. Wanna be healthier? Eat an orange. Voila!
3) Standard of living – If you are reading this, chances are your standard of living will never approach the galaxy that is known by most of the world for their entire lives. People who are born hungry, live in disease, and die in pain. While we surround ourselves with the trappings of a culture that long ago abandoned the proper usage of the words “need” and “want”, there are a combined 60 MILLION people living in the 3 cities of Delhi, Mumbai, and Calcutta India. What percentage of them would be only too happy to live the way folks do in Detroit?
4) Freedom – Another year, another chance to say, write, and read pretty much whatever you please. This is a tricky one, though. If we’re not careful, our actual level of freedom will be exchanged in total for a perceived level of “security”. Those willing to barter freedom for security wind up with neither. The real question, though; what did you DO with your freedom? Did you speak up, speak out, or lay down? Remember, liberty is loud, oppression is silent.
The list goes on…
Always…Search for Peace
Never…shy away from a just conflict
Always…Bend to convention where matters are light
Never…Abandon conviction where self respect is at stake
Always…Support and nurture relationships of mutual appreciation
Never…Short change your emotions or waste your loyalty
Always…Be true to the ones you love
Never…Forget to love yourself first
My prayer for those I hold dear is the same on 1/1/2012 as it has been on every other day of my adult life.
I do not pray for health, wealth, happiness, abundance, prosperity, love, or peace.
I pray for strength, that we all may deal most admirably in times where the list above might not come on our desired schedule.
Yes, I wish you strength (i.e. כוח, fuerza, قوة, krag, la force, fòs, szilárdság, rezistenţă, прочность, sức mạnh, neart, pevnost, 強さ, indarra, 實力, δύναμη, 힘, robur, शक्ति).
Finally, an Irish Blessing…
May the road rise to meet you.May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face.
And rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand
Shalom, y’all.
Peas.
PS – Remember, this is the year of the full out assault on cancer for me…via the Ulman Cancer Fund. Please help as often and as much as you can!
