Dear old year, thank you!
It is that time of the year, when there are celebrations, colors, lights and smiles all around. After a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends, December is right here with us, bringing excitement to our hearts and celebrations to our minds. As we hunt around for the perfect Christmas gifts and look forward to an amazing holiday with our near ones, happiness and joy are floating in the air. From Christmas trees to fancy lights, delicious treats to beautifully wrapped gifts, this time of the year is undoubtedly the most awaited season for all.
And while Christmas and its joy is truly amazing to say the least, it is followed by another occasion to keep the party going. No sooner do we relish the goodies of this Christmas magic, we find ourselves greeting the next most awaited event. As New Year knocks on the door, bringing wishes, hopes, secrets and pleasures of a new start, we are pulled into the flow of celebrations, once again. From greeting family and friends for a New Year to planning exciting parties for the occasion, from framing resolutions for a kick-start to hoping happiness in the subsequent months to follow, there are lot of activities to keep us occupied.
But, if we get carried away in this stream of a new start, is it right to ignore the existing year?
Isn’t it necessary to thank the old year, before we jump around in the excitement of a new one?
Shouldn’t we express our gratitude for this year, before we commence our prayers and wishes for a better course ahead?
Hoping for a new start and welcoming it with a happy heart is definitely necessary. To start something new with smiles and cheers is undoubtedly the best way to get going. But, it is equally important to thank the old year that gave us everything along the way. It may not have been one of the best years of your life or may have been a rough one from start to end. It may have offered you something good or may have left you with something bad.
There could have been losses, gains, profits, regrets, happiness, success, celebrations, sorrow, anything and everything from day 1 to day 365. If you got all that was desired and wanted, you will undoubtedly thank the old year for being kind. But, sunshine cannot continue for long. Bright days have to be followed by dark nights. Hence, happiness and sorrow come to us as part of a cyclic process. If this existing year gave problems, it did offer solutions too. If it made you cry, it was also throwing tears of joy and smiles along your way. And if defeat seemed to be knocking at your door quite often, happiness and success were waiting in the wing too. Thus, every year is nothing but a mixed course of good and bad. True, some years are more memorable and happening than some sad ones, but it is essential to thank every old year, while dancing for a new one.
The real gratitude lies in accepting everything it taught you, before you embrace the next opportunity. Accepting and appreciating are signs of a ‘fair and square’ attitude, it represents sportsmanship spirit to keep going.
Thank your old year for everything, and welcome the new one with a bigger heart.
Thank it for the challenges, they only made you strong.
Thank it for the happy moments, they brought smiles.
Thank it for the achievements, they set the stage for a victory dance.
Thank it for the sorrow, it gave you new perspective.
And most of all, thank it for the opportunity of embracing yet another eventful course of your life!
-Lavanya
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