Christmas is over and New Year's is on the threshold! Thank God 2020 will be laid to rest and we can optimistically look to better days ahead.
I still have all the goals set before as I do ever year; to try and maintain fitting between my arms, as couch loafing has become a hobby I should give up for better health initiatives; to try and be cognizant of keeping a heart of gratitude and applying it; to focus on looking forward instead of in the rear view mirror; and to embrace life with optimism and remember to appreciate the people I love, not in just deed, but letting the, know, too.
'I love you' are sweet words to hear!
Although I have no regrets letting 2020 go and all the sadness and grief it has brought me personally, there has been so much living in the past that I like to reminisce about.
From an early age, the thought of New Year's has always had an image of glitz and glamour, celebration and champagne, and fairy-tale romances; certainly not reality in my experience, but I did find my Prince Charming along the way anyways. New Year's celebrations were always subdued, usually a fondue with my folks with the kids tucked in bed. That's about as exciting as it got. At least in those days, I could stay awake past midnight to ring in the New Year, a tradition that I have not always upheld in the last few years.
One such New Year's memory shines brightly in the peripherals of my mind, and pleasantly I might add. It was the New Year's Eve of 2014 and we were 2,300 miles from Chile's west coast and 2,500 miles east of Tahiti in the South Pacific Ocean: Easter Island, to be exact, a 65 square mile island — the most isolated inhabited island on the planet. The best about it was that we were our sons and their wives on a holiday of a lifetime.
Easter Island is a not a posh place with very few amenities; there are no high-rises, with not much to do except hang out with the Moai human rock figurines scattered throughout the island...but on this particular New Year's Eve, the celebrations planned were a grand welcome to 2015. The beach was loaded with almost every inhabitant of the island, and we were thrilled to be there to experience it. A whole night of bands playing under the moonlit sky, 15 full minutes of the best fireworks we have ever experienced, and a few libations made for a nite we will never forget.
Throughout a lifetime, there are seasons to embrace and seasons to let go, but through the years we can thankful that there are good things to behold that inspire us to hope in tomorrow.
Happy New Year and may 2021 see all of us on a road of Happy Trails ahead!
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
