All set for 2008

I have always loved the exhilarating feeling that New Year brings. I don’t know if this feeling is influenced by the colorful display of lights in the sky or the overflowing champagne (or any alcohol for that matter), but New Years just fill my senses with an invigorating feeling. I think that this sentiment is more influenced by the thought that New Years offer a new beginning to everyone. Each and every New Year, I feel that I get a new shot at things. This is the time when I can leave all my woes and excess baggage behind and receive a clean slate on all new endeavors that I want to undertake.

I believe that another great thing about New Years is that it gives us this yearning to look back in the past and ponder on how to make amends on our previous mistakes, and provides an opportunity to be grateful for all the blessings that we have received. While watching the first season ender of Ally McBeal, an old American series that I find so entertaining, John Cage, one of the characters said, “If you think back and replay your year and it doesn’t bring you tears of either joy or sadness, consider the year wasted”. These lines stuck with me and I just had to oblige and look back at the year that was. Doing so, I was overwhelmed by how enormous the things that I have gone through in 2007, both good and the not so good and John Cage couldn’t be more correct, the mere flashback of the year that was simply brought mist into my eyes. The past year was a melting pot of experiences that etched memories that will forever remain with me, and it has also presented challenges that made me a much stronger individual, ready and able to face any trial in the coming year.

Above all, I believe that the greatest thing about New Years is that it presents everyone with a gift – Hope. Every new calendar that we hang on the wall symbolizes another chance for all of us to do better, to seize the battle that was lost and to grab opportunities that will define us as an individual. .

Personally, I have very high hopes for 2008. How can I not? I am armed with the glories of the wars I have won in the past year. I am empowered by the lessons of my failures and I have the people around me who offer me comfort and love.