Humble thoughts

Make it another year to excel

The house is quiet and the fireplace not yet lit on this final early morn in 2023. We are sharing the New Year’s Eve with some of our oldest and dearest friends so I am overcome with joy.

I had trouble falling asleep last night as I received two pieces of jarring news late afternoon. One was that a good friend lost a parent Christmas week following a terrible car accident. Air bags, years’s experience driving, and amazing American medical care could not prevent this outcome. No matter the parent’s age or the ups/downs of family ties, that loss is a closure that cannot help but affect us deeply. I cannot grasp the shock it must convey.

Then, I received a text immediately before dinner that a friend got the horrible news yesterday of leukemia. I understand it is more treatable than it used to be but the diagnosis is still extraordinarily worrisome. She is virtually incapacitated without as her white blood count plummeted. Thank goodness we do have fine medical care in but it will test severely both her financial means and her optimism to win out.

The final day of the year is one prone to reflection. I am good with that. I have the fullest life one could have, replete with the best husband and best friend, a beautiful home, fabulous children and grandchildren conquering the world as only the next generation can, superb health, resources, and a camera to capture that which intrigues me. And that is merely a start for the bounty.

Sure, I worry a lot about the future; worry is in my DNA, but, to paraphrase the Serenity Prayer, I believe I am gradually learning to do something about the things I can while reconciling myself to what I have no power to change by recognizing the difference. I don’t always succeed but kaizen does mean day by day small improvement. That’s probably is my motto but Actions Create Consequences certainly is creed.

Take the walk if your body allows you next year! Try a new recipe! Tell your child how deeply proud you are and how much you love him when you feel those sentiments. Stand up for what you believe most important! Listen to a new podcaster! There truly is no guarantee of tomorrow, only a hope, so complacency is dangerous. Assuming we—me as much as anyone else—are similarly always right is similarly to our peril.

In the end, we have so much and so many to support us in our lives and this country but we are ultimately responsible for our own lives. Actions create consequences.

Thank you for reading this today and any other day. I appreciate your support and wish you the glory of a new year. What a deal.

Be well and be safe. FIN