"Although no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending." – Carl Bard
Here we are again--another holiday season behind us, another new year upon us. It happened last year, and it will happen again next year, and the year after, and the year after that. And yet, every December 31st, I find it hard to believe another whole year has gone by.
Why do we make such a big deal about New Year's Day? It's just another day, and yet we stay up lat the night before, counting down the minutes and seconds until midnight, popping champagne, and exchanging hugs and kisses in celebration of a new page in a new calendar. We make plans to start anew and resolve to do things differently, knowing full well our resolutions are likely to be broken by the end of the first week in January.
Why do we do it? Because we're human. Because without endings we couldn't have new beginnings. We need to wrap things up in a bow and say goodbye so we can turn our attentions to new plans and new efforts. A new year is a new chance. We can't change what has happened to us in the past or where we stand this day, but we can take this opportunity to regroup, reevaluate, and renew our efforts to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves or set new goals. We want to do more; we want to do better. It's one of the best features of our flawed human nature.
What do you have planned for 2026? What do you want to do? What do you want to stop doing? How do you want to be better?
Whatever you have in mind, I hope you give it your best and stay the course. And I hope that whatever 2026 throws at you, you always have family, friends ,and sometimes even total strangers to stand with you, celebrate with you, and help you through to the next new year.
Happy New Year!
- Kathryn Amurra