You know what? I’ve been avoiding mentioning “goals”, “resolutions”, “targets” etc. since the start of the year, because they don’t relate to only the start of theyear. And anyway, the “start of the year” is just a question of how you count time in days, months and years. Throughout history people have altered the way we count time. Even this year we had a “leap second” at New Year, in order to keep our clocks in line with the orbit of the earth. It’s not an exact science and every now and then we need to make adjustments. So - just because New Year currently falls between months called December and January - it’s just the current state of affairs. It might change again. Who knows?

 

Standard New Year has never meant a lot to me in terms of looking back and looking forward. I can do that any day I choose. When I was a kid, I used to love hearing the foghorns from the boats in Dublin Bay, sounding to each other to ring in the new year, but that was the most special thing about that particular midnight. When I was older I used to enjoy going to a party that a friend held every new year’s eve in his family home. This party was such a tradition for so many people that - years after my friend had moved out of the family home into his own place - people would still turn up at his parents house for the party. It took quite a few years for the message to spread to all that the party was not on anymore.

 

Now I love to spend new year with my family, just being at home, appreciating everything I have - the love of my family, the joy of our being together and the warmth and peace of spending time with them. I require nothing more than that on a New Year’s Eve. It completes my year, and gives me hope for the great unknown that is the future.

 

Cheers!