Érase Una Vez ....

.... when I was a child and through my teenage years, during the 50s and 60s, making New Year's resolutions was a really big deal. Everyone always asked, “What resolutions have you made for the new year?”

In those days, folks usually said something like they were going to try to quit smoking, not drink so much (very seldom did they say stop drinking altogether!), losing weight wasn't such a big deal back then but, that one came up as well.

Most resolutions related to a form of physical self improvement. I can't say I remember very many proclamations having to do with more spiritually emotional things like saying a kind word when it was sensed someone needed one, helping someone who didn't ask for help, in general, trying to generate positive 'vibes', as we used to say back in the 60s.

Many view the beginning of the new year with a sense of renewed hope, that all that went bad in the past year can and will be reversed or the damage blunted by equally good or positive happenings.

In order for this balance to occur, spiritual work must be done to help attain the desired outcome, evidenced by actions in harmony with the stated word.

We must all do our best to live our lives as examples for future generations to follow, most importantly those of us that count ourselves among the elders, striving to provide a beacon of light for those who seem to have lost their moral compass, succumbing to misguided and hedonistic value systems, caring for no one other than themselves.

I'll always remember the childlike simplicity of the lines uttered by a minor character in the film Forrest Gump, about a mentally challenged man who manages to live his life to the fullest while respecting all with whom he came in contact.

The woman, a person of questionable character, standing in a bar full of New Year's revelers as they watched the New Year festivities unfold on television, appears to address no one in particular, musing, “ Don't you just love New Years? You can start all over. Everyone deserves a second chance”, lines written that embody the stuff of which fairy tales are made.

We all could use a second chance but, it's been my life's experience, most often that you only get one chance to get things right, so you have to strive to get it right that first time. If one is granted a second chance, do not be heedless of the magnitude of the gift and squander such a precious event.

Always pursue wisdom as you live your life seeking the Creator's countenance, engaging only in noble efforts of pursuit in which the achievement of the sought for goals will bring honor to you and all those who have also learned to travel this plane of existence striving to attain excellence.

There is a time, before life teaches it's lesson, that it seems possible for innumerable second chances, limitless 'do overs'. When the lesson is learned and reality looms large that as life's opportunities evade one's grasp, that time that seemed so fluid and boundless in youth, reveals it's finite construct, the life student is often left with a twinge of regret and a lament, preceded by the language of the fairy tale, érase una vez, once upon a time.

My best wishes to all for a New Year full of the bounty of reward for good works.