I love to celebrate, and what better reason than the ending of a year? Regardless of our family’s many faiths, or lack of any, the year is rendering its last few gasps.
My next Holiday event, this one the Hanukkah/Christmas party, is coming soon. In the midst of my planning, I pause and ponder. This departing year, what was it like? For me, there was a bit of everything. Great joy at the birth of a new great-grandchild, aching sorrow at the death of yet another old friend. Frustration filled me when I was told that some of my age-related problems were here to stay. The tension caused by this news eased when I admitted to myself that most of my health problems are being well managed, if not cured!
All this musing sent my mind back to our last Writing Class. A colleague introduced us to a quotation he had discovered:
“It is not because things are difficult, that we don’t dare; it is because we don’t dare that they are difficult.” (Seneca the Younger, 5BC to 65 AD)
This jarred me into wondering, “Were my difficulties this year caused mainly because I was afraid to tackle them? If I had ‘dared,’ as Seneca put it, and faced my problems head on, would solutions have surfaced earlier?”
I can’t rewrite the past, only learn from it. Just to be on the safe side, I’ll tuck this latest bit of learning in my arsenal for the future. My intention is from now on to: Address difficult situations realistically. Do it as soon as these arise. It will then be easier to determine if a solution is possible, or if acceptance must be my response.
Looks good on paper. The test will be putting it into practice. If I can succeed, even occasionally, time wasted mulling over “What to do?” will be saved. I’m ready now to meet the New Year. So – Join me! ’Tis the Season, and I’m in a cheering mood! I’ve had one more wonderful year savouring life, and have lived it with joy. How can I be this lucky?
Whatever Holiday you’re honouring, may the path ahead be intriguing, smooth, and very much worth travelling.