As We Begin This New Year

Each year we are granted the opportunity to start over. Many of us take the time to make a list of resolutions, things we either want to do or want to refrain from doing. This is a sign that recognize this new beginning. At the same time, it's also a reflection on our failures. Each of us comes to the start of a new year with a sense of having failed to accomplish something that we wanted to do, or of having failed to purge ourselves of things we wanted to avoid.

This reality is both painful and constant. Failure seems to be such a big part of who we are and what we do. We set goals that we don't realize, we make expectations that we do not meet, we establish plans that are not accomplished. This cycle seems so endless that, in fact, we may even begin to wonder why we bother with the whole thing.

For some, however, there is a sense of challenge that this process brings out. True, we may not succeed in doing what we set out to do, but the important task is to start. If we simply give up then nothing has been gained, and much has been lost. The old Chinese proverb states that a trip of a 1,000 miles begins with a single step. When we don't take that step, we deprive ourselves of much joy and excitement that life wants to give us.

Success is not guaranteed in any human activity. In fact, some would contend that success is actually a byproduct of good planning, lots of effort, and not a little bit of luck. This understanding should also help us to understand that the joy should be in the effort to succeed, not in success itself. As Spock once noted on a Star Trek episode, "Having a thing is not so great as wanting. It's not logical, but it is often so". Success is a wonderful goal, and we should all be striving for it. But, along the way, we learn so much from our little failures.

Someone once noted that the difference between a person in heaven and a person in hell was that the one in heaven got up one more time. Our little failures should be treated as spurs to get us up and going again rather than as a re-enforcement to keep us down. As long as we are up and moving towards our goals, we are doing the right thing. We may not succeed but we can learn so much from the journey.

So, as we begin this new year, let's look at some positive steps we can take to enhance our journey. Let's smile a little more. Let's hold back from our comments a little more. Let's be open to helping those around us just a little more. Let's allow God to work through us just a little more. Let's pray as a family a little more. Let's give God some silent time in which He can speak to us. Above all, let's love a little more because in loving we are sharing our very selves with those around us. And, at the very end, all we have is the love we have shared.

May God bless and keep you and yours in the coming year. Happy New Year!

~~ By Deacon Ed of St. Joseph Catholic Church, NY. Shared by Joe Gatuslao ~~