The new year is upon us once again. This is the time when the average person wishes everyone around them, including strangers, a happy new year. It is also the time when many people set resolutions for themselves in order to have a happier and healthier year ahead. What follows for a lot of us, of course, is the failure to live up to the goals we've set and with it, the failure to wish everyone around us happiness on a daily basis. The new year is indeed once again upon us, but with degrees of failure built in.
As the first couple of months of a new year unfold, many will lose the will to sustain their resolutions and go back to treating people the way they did during the previous year. Gym memberships will be left in the cold, cold turkey quitters will have relapses and warm sentiments will ultimately cool down as the new year unfolds.
Wait a second! What??
When I was a kid, I began to understand irony when I watched the Bugs Bunny show with the coyote and dog fighting it out only to refrain from violence as they punched their time cards out for the day and said good night. I understood hypocrisy when I witnessed weekly acts of violence absolved every Sunday with a prayer service. Then, every year, I see people giving each other the warmest of holiday greetings, sometimes in sincerity and sometimes just to be polite, only to go back to treating them less than favorably.
I can't be the only one who sees the problem here.
Everybody should avoid a New Year's resolution. Quit smoking and lose weight without the pressure of a promise and if you fall off the bandwagon, give it another shot. Eat better during the year 'just because' and treat people, on a daily basis, like you would during the holiday season (except replace 'happy holidays' with a better suited phrase, or you'll sound crazy).
Thought for the new year: sport a holiday expression all year 'round and encourage others to do so as well. Don't let the negative people take your positive countenance away; maintain it and try to eventually turn them. Better yet, remind them that they should try a holiday smile.
New years challenges:
- give a homeless person some change, a coffee or a sandwich
- greet the grocery store checkout person like they were your sibling
- thank the coffee shop server for getting your coffee
- treat the janitor like a CEO
- hold the door open for both men and women
Happy New Year!!!
- Buck Moore
No comments:
Post a Comment