I don’t usually do a traditional blog post, but tonight I was struck by a conversation I had at the grocery store with the cashier. We were discussing that even though it was New Year’s Eve, neither of us were really celebrating it. He had a two year old at home, and of course I have four girls all under the age of ten, so that is the obvious excuse, but on the ride home I thought about it some more. I mused on why I did not find New Year’s Eve exciting anymore. I joked with the cashier about my lack of sleeping habits, so staying up past midnight is life, not a something to be celebrated. That still didn’t seem to be the answer, but it was related to that.
I didn’t find significance anymore in the change of the year. If you don’t find something significant it just floats on by without much fanfare. On the converse, when others discuss it, it begins to annoy you. Why make such a big deal out of something so insignificant? It began to make sense to me. I see the change of day, every day, the change of month to the next, why is the changing of a year so much different? Why attach the significance of making life changes because of the change of a calendar year?
I realize that everyone places a different level of significance to all sorts of things. That is part of the diversity that is wonderful and frustrating. It should be celebrated and accepted, even when you don’t see why. It is the very essence of what makes you who you are. I think now that marriage is finding someone you love who places a lot of the same significance on things you do, and you can accept, or ignore, where the differences are.
So what does that leave this post? I hope it is a gift of simple words of almost wisdom from a man who is more of a wiseass. In this next year, contemplate what is truly significant to you and then celebrate it. Do it. Create with it. Make that an important part of your life. Live it. If you do so, then when the crap happens, and you know it will happen, then you will know its proper place in your life. This is just a piece of advice from someone who found writing this significant enough to do so. Happy New Year!
Never Short On Words 