Looking forward and looking back? What? January was named after the Roman god, Janus, who was always pictured as having two heads so that he could look forward and backward! Wow, would that be cool! But we mortals must content ourselves with the vision of reviewing last year and looking forward too and planning our new year.
So how was your 2018? Was it one for the record books? Did you get everything on your list completed? Or did you even bother with a list? In our household, we are list folks. We pull out lists made from New Years long ago and have to laugh at what we thought was important when we were first married. It’s a fun exercise that we do many New Year’s
New Year’s resolutions have been a tradition for many years, and, in some cases, people joke about how long it took to break one of their promised resolutions. Stop smoking, lose 25 pounds after the holidays, start going to the gym, etc., etc. We can’t stop Father Time as the years march by, and, as we age, we can really learn what’s important, and what’s not.
We tend to get hung up on material things and not focus on the important things. When my daughter was growing up, she taught me a valuable lesson one Christmas when I asked her what she wanted Santa to bring
her. “More time with you”. Not a new doll, bike, game or toy, more time with Dad to play together. At the time, I was a very busy executive and was a true road warrior, getting on a plane almost every Monday morning and gone for the week, arriving back Friday night and pooped from the week’s work. While we played and watched movies together, in looking back, I’ve realized how much time I missed watching her grow up. And….at what cost?
As we learn from our mistakes we often try to impart that experience on to others. The issues I’ve found to be true is that it’s one thing to have the experience and knowledge, it’s quite another to have someone take that hard-earned advice to heart.
Fun facts about January? It is the closest day and the same day that is the furthest away from December 31. Did you know in ancient times March 1st was the New Year? January is the coldest month of the year in the Northern hemisphere and the warmest in the Southern hemisphere.
Oh, a January Joke? What do you get when you cross a snowman and a vampire?
FROSTBITE!
(you saw that one coming didn’t you……).