We will open the book.Its pages are blank.
We are going to put words on them ourselves.
The book is called Opportunity
And its first chapter is New Year's Day.
(Edith Lovejoy Pierce)
There’s great significance in the dawning of the New Year because for many of us the New Year brings new and exciting possibilities. There are of course many unknowns and endless questions about the future year. Will it be better or worse than the last year? Will I finally win gold lotto or find true happiness? Swirling around in our minds are more questions than answers and many imponderables to consider about the coming year.
In the New Year we reflect upon the year that has just passed – the highs and lows, the good and bad, the exciting and the indifferent, the sad moments and moments of great happiness. For some people the New Year can’t come quickly enough and for others there were moments of great delight that we want to savour and remember. Probably, each of us will have experienced the full range of emotions at some point during the year.
As the New Year dawns, we consider the year that stretches before us – the fresh start, the opportunities that await and the dreams yet unrealised. One thing we know for sure though, is that nothing stays the same; change is inevitable. Being prepared for change and accepting change is one way we can better cope with the inevitable.
In a recent Time article (in January8 edition):” 2012 – Users’ Guide”, some interesting reflections were made:
“Last year was not a propitious one for the prediction industry. Against all expectations, dictators across the Arab world succumbed to the power of crowds. No one could have forecast the epic natural disasters in the Asia Pacific region. Few anticipated the unravelling of the euro……”
Predictions don't necessarily help us either. Rarely will an economist, fortune teller, or astrologer get it right.... the future is a tricky business to say the least. It's part of the reason that often people giving predictions are very vague and talk in generalities. Not surprisingly, they are so open to personal interpretation, that we often read into the prediction what we want to believe.
There is an element of truth to the saying:
You are what you think and believe. Attitude is everything.
Often what you think about becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Anatole France, the great French writer penned the following:
To accomplish great things
we must not only act,
but also dream;
not only plan, but also believe.
Anything is possible if we set our mind to it. Align our thinking, devote time to it, align our actions and never doubt for a moment our ability to achieve it and hold tight to our own indomitable self belief.
Karon Graham
