Things to Consider on New Year’s Day

Just yesterday, it seems, we were preparing for this year numbered 2013, now it’s gone and its replacement smacks us in the face. We don’t know how long it will be before we quit writing 2013 on checks, but maybe by St. Patrick’s Day it will sink in, this is 2014.
Some thoughts to pass along as you wait for the lima bean casserole to finish, and before the family arrives for ham or whatever it is you enjoy to start a new 12 months:
Take a pledge that you will force yourself to do something new this year that you have been wanting to do. Take an evening course in ballroom dancing or bread baking at the county Technical School. If you read books (by electronic version or the old-fashioned way) read just one that is not of your old genre liking.
I found a world of interesting facts as I read some books about World War I, about Washington and how he worked to put a new nation together from a still-fragmented rag tag bunch of patriots. I read a couple of books about slavery, and about a little boy who died, went to heaven, returned and told his parents who he met up there (whom he never met before) and what they did after he had died.
Last year, I learned a sad fact of life: Never trust people who you thought were your friends, they will turn on you in a heartbeat. That taught me another lesson, but will it make me bitter or better? Time will tell.
Try to learn a new skill, something you did not know last year. It may sound foolish, but knowledge has a way of making you a bit more confident.
Don’t believe everything you hear. Be wise on what you read, there are many lies out there, just waiting to be believed.
Come to the reality that, in the American electoral process, we lack the ability to put saints in office. Instead, we put ordinary men and women in hot seats and expect perfection 100 percent of the time. Don’t expect them to act in your best interest all the time, but be sure you let them know how you feel about certain aspects.
Adopt the habit of keeping an eye on an international news outlet, like the Canadian Broadcasting Company or British Broadcasting Company. Those and others are readily available on the Internet. Why do I make that recommendation? It’s a real virtue to be able to look at ourselves through the eyes of another nation’s journalists. Shocking though it may be, you may learn that America is not the top dog in everything, that political scandals happen everywhere, and that the things that unite us are really greater than what divides us.
Promise that, in the coming 12 months, you will find time one day to clean out that drawer that has everything in it from screws to old electric bills. Clean it out, throw all the old stuff away and be amazed at how much extra space you will realize.
Keep in mind, there is no firm grasp on eternity from any one religion. Take up the habit, if you have not already done so, to daily read the Bible or whatever holy book you may find fulfills your spiritual need. What this America needs desperately is a return to a set of religious morals. Strange, isn’t it, but if we study all world religions, we find they are much the same in pointing to man’s need to recognize he walks here but a short time, and is reliant upon the God who created him?
Decide you will quit complaining. Spout Off will continue and might even improve if it becomes filled with reasons why people are satisfied with the life they live in this boundary that encloses our pleasant land. Do not be one of those who wakes up on a beautiful morning and mutters, “It’s going to rain today.” Then, all through the day, as the sun brightly shines, as birds sing and life is good, you continue to say, “It’s going to rain today.” Then, finally, after sunset, the clouds roll overhead and it rains. Then, with a smirk on your face you proclaim, “See, I told you it was going to rain today!” Don’t be like that. Make the promise today that will not be who you are in 2014.
Be gentle with yourself. You are only a human being, still you are a wonderful machine incredibly made to do myriad tasks. Don’t cloud your mind with nonsense, look for the best in everything and everybody.
Remember what your mother and father taught you. Say “please,” it works miracles. And for goodness sake, if you do nothing else this year, learn to use two words virtually lost from modern vocabulary, “Thank you.” Why? Because every time you say “thank you” is 10 times you won’t have to say “please.” A joyous, healthy 365 days to you and yours.