If you are in London, New Year’s Eve means waiting for Big Ben to strike at midnight. If you are celebrating the Scottish Hogmanay it’s a case of waiting for a dark haired man to cross your doorstep at midnight. If you are in the U.S., you are likely to wait for New Year’s Day to celebrate with football games, mummer’s parades and rose festivals. The Chinese, of course, celebrate on a different date and with lots of fireworks. Wherever or whenever you celebrate, though, the arrival of a New Year is something special So, whatever form the celebration takes, a New Year means fresh opportunities, different possibilities and a chance to change your life. It is also, of course, a time for thinking of the past.
You could probably compare it to a sandy beach. It’s waiting for you to put your footprints on it. Of course there is always the chance you’ll fall over something from your past year hidden beneath that sand. Just now, though, we see only the beauty of the beach.
We are filled with hope for the New Year. We are putting behind us our troubles of yesterday and hoping that tomorrow will be better in every way. On New Year Eve we are filled with optimism and perhaps a few glasses of something that warms the cockles of our hearts, especially after the last storm.
It’s good to be hopeful. It’s good to close one year with a bang and welcome another. Just now, quite rightly, we are having fun and enjoying ourselves. After all, what better way to greet a New Year?
So let us raise our virtual glasses in a toast. Ladies and gentlemen may your New Year be a year when your dreams come true.
