Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering, ‘It will be happier.’ — Alfred Lord Tennyson
As we bid farewell to 2016 I find myself looking forward to 2017. Then I found myself asking a question: What is there about a new year which changes us, often affects us, and sometimes leaves us full of dread?
On the calendar, January 1st is just another day. In the life of the planet the sun rises and sets like it has for millions, billions of years. So why do we consider the day different?
The New Year signals a new beginning, psychology speaking. Our mind has been conditioned to accept this day as a change, a hope for change, the desire to change. For the better.
Politically speaking, the day marks the beginning of new ways for the politicians to shaft the population. Every January 1st new laws and regulations take affect which are designed to destroy our lives, generally speaking. In the lost state of California the compassionate dictators have passed laws which destroy jobs and lives. And this approach is called progress.
And shafting the population has been the norm for decades, not only in California, but other states as well.
Yet 2017 is shaping up to be completely different. It feels different. Why? For the first time since the 80’s there appears to be real hope for a better life. Will there be? Only time will tell, but right now the future looks better than ever. With this last election the political landscape has been forced to change, much to the chagrin of the political establishment.
Yet we the people, the individuals, the families, who make this country work have spoken against the status quo, and we finally rejected it. It took a lot of destruction, cost many innocent lives, the shedding of blood, and the incompetence of the political landscape, but we, the nation, finally took a chance to make a big change.
Einstein said, and I paraphrase: The definition of insanity is doing exactly the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
I finally got the real meaning of this quote. I realize my life will not change until I shake up my own status quo. I have always done exactly the same thing over and over again, for my entire life and always expected a different result. And then I was surprised when nothing changed.
This year I decided to do something different. I began by creating my own affirmation:
“If I continue do what I’ve always done, I will continue to get what I’ve always got! Shake it up!”
We begin to change our country by changing ourselves. This last November we, as a nation, decided to shake it up, and the earthquake we created is still being felt by the status quo.
This New Year, 2017, is showing promise, real hope and change for the better. And I for one have decided to take advantage of these feelings.
There will be challenges. There will be failures. There will be victories. There will be change. This means that 2017 is beginning to sound like a lot of fun.
G.
