Another Year Nearly Gone

It's hard to believe that we're almost through with another year. Actually. we're on the brink of a new decade! It seems like just a while ago that everyone was stressing about the new millenium and whether all the computers would crash when the date changed to 2000.  Now here we are, about to finish the "ought" decade. No more 01s or 03s. We're going into 2010.

I was reading one of my favorite op-ed columnests this morning. He suggested that we call this last decade the zero  decade since that was pretty much the extent of any kind of progress we Americans have made, on any front. I have to admit, I think he's right. We are seeming to be unable to learn from our mistakes and keep repeating them, expecting that "this time" it will come out right. Isn't that the definition of insanity?

I keep trying to think if I'm learning anything myself. I hope so, but sometimes I'm not too sure. After Christmas, I thought that the holiday was a celebration of love. God gave us his Son, to show His total Love for His Creations. The least we can do, other than love Him back, is to love one another, each of us, whether lovable or not.

I'm not sure whether to make any New Year's resolutions. I usually break them and make the same ones every year. This year, I think I'll put "gratitude" at the top of my list. It's amasing how being grateful can help your outlook on life. Even if the only thing you can find to be grateful for is being alive and breathing, that's a pretty big deal. Maybe you can only be glad that you didn't fall out of bed or that you've got something to eat for breakfast, even though it might not be what you quite wanted. You can still be grateful you're not going to starve today. Some days it can be hard to find something to be grateful for, but the more you practise, the more you'll find to be grateful for. If you can only find one silly thing to be glad about, so be it. Be glad about it, tomorrow will be better, sooner or later.

I had to work Christmas Eve this year and I tried to be upbeat, but I was just basically grouchy about the whole thing. I only had to work about 4 and 1/2 hours, but I had to work so hard being nice to people. It wasn't their fault I had to work, after all. I was exhausted at the end of my shift. I discovered that it really is harder work to be a grouch than to be cheerful. Who knew?