Happy New Year!

2021 has come and gone and we find ourselves staring 2022 straight in the face.
My favorite New Year’s childhood memories find me spending every New Year’s Eve with my Grandma Greene (Cora Lee Hartsfield Greene). We would spend the entire night taking down the Christmas tree and all the Christmas decorations; for she taught me that if we left them up then we would bring all the “bad stuff” from the “old year” in with the “new year.” She taught me to take all decorations down and begin the New Year off fresh.
My Grandma also always told me that I could not wash clothes on New Year’s Day. “You’ll wash someone out of the family,” she would say. “Old wives’ tales,” so they are said to be; but we lived by them, she and me.
On New Year’s Day, January 1, 1998, I found myself with a sink full of dirty dishes and I called my Grandma to inquire about washing dishes on New Year’s Day. She had always told me I could not wash clothes; but I wasn’t sure about washing dishes. I remember vividly she laughed and said she had been wondering the same thing that day because she had a sink full of dirty dishes that she wanted to wash, also.
So, we decided that we would both wash dishes that day …. and if something happened, in our family, we wouldn’t know who would be to blame.
Three months later, to the day, she died as a result of a stroke.
As I stood in the hospital, holding her hand as she took her last breath, I thought about those dishes.
Is there truth to “Old Wives’ Tales”? Or was it a coincidence?
We will never know!
But I can tell you this… I have never washed dishes again on New Year’s Day, since 1998.
Another popular New Year belief/tradition, for a lot of folks, is “New Year Resolutions.”
However, statistics show that after six months, fewer than half of the people who make New Year’s Resolutions are still upholding them. After one year, that percentage drops to about 10 percent.
I gave up New Year’s Resolutions many, many years ago… I didn’t need statistics to realize that I, personally, didn’t keep them either, in a timely matter.
I’ve learned, however, that the secret to New Year’s Resolutions is not to make a promise once a year and try so hard to make it work. The true secret is to slowly make life changing habits that become a part of your life.
It doesn’t matter what the “Resolution” is - - stop smoking, clean the house, lose weight, exercise more, tithe, or save money - - the end result is so much better if you just slowly make life changing adjustments to make it work. Making a promise on January 1 might lead to a let-down in a few months. Once the let-down has occurred, the mentality of trying again is broken.
Instead, of a once-a-year promise, you should slowly make changes in your lifestyle, for that will make for a longer lasting effect. Instead of making a “New Year’s Resolution” make a “Lifestyle resolution.”
“If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.” – Albert Einstein
With the ending of another year of our lives, we must not look back at the past, but look forward to a new beginning with 2022
Bring the past only if you are going to build from it.  – Doménico Cieri Estrada
What you need to know about the past is that no matter what has happened, it has all worked together to bring you to this very moment.  And this is the moment you can choose to make everything new.  Right now.  – Author Unknown
I hope all of you, our faithful readers, will be richly blessed in the upcoming New Year. May you all find peace, love and happiness in all that you do.
Furthermore, always remember to cherish your loved ones; for one day/year they may not be here to show your love to!