As we enter the new year, some of us are sad to see last year go away. Maybe it was a great year full of unexpected surprises, gifts, or friendships. On the other hand, there are those of us who are really glad to see the new year as the old one might have been a bust or less than a wonderful year. It could have been a serious health issue or a financial hardship, maybe even the loss of a dear friend or relative. For whatever reason, last year just didn’t measure up.
The tremendous thing is that we get to start a great new adventure called 2020. Wow! The year 2020! I can remember sitting in high school classes back in the 60s (yep, a Boomer) and dreaming about what it’s going to be like in the year 2020. Flying cars, cities on the moon, disease and pestilence all but wiped out. The technological advances that were touted in all the magazines. And…. world peace.
At that time in the late 60s I felt that with all the advances in food supply and medical marvels, it would bring about world stability and there would be no more reason for wars or regional conflict. Fast forward to the present and even with many improvements here we still find ourselves mired in conflict between peoples and countries.
Even in our own good old USA we have never seen the strife between political parties and the leaders in those parties at the level of unrest that we see today Brother against brother, families against families. Sound familiar? Are we headed back to the 1860s?
I, for one, sincerely hope not. Let us all pledge to be more tolerant and considerate toward each other in this new year and agree that it’s OK to disagree and still respect each other. The USA is still the shining beacon it has always been for the rest of the world and we need to make sure we never lose sight of that one gift we can give. The gift of hope. Happy New Year!