Happy ‘New View In You’ Year

When I think of New Year’s, I think about the concept of time and starting new. So, here are some insights and observations about time. 

"Procrastinators…the leaders of tomorrow.” “Out of my mind – back in five minutes.” “Ever stop to think and forget to start again?” “When the clock is hungry, it goes back four seconds.” By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he is wrong.  

“Sometimes, I look down at my watch three consecutive times and still do not know what time it is.” “Finally, there is no worse feeling than that millisecond you’re sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.” “Today may be the first day of the rest of your life, but so was yesterday, and look how you messed that up.” “Troubled times can lead to troubled minds.” 

Idealistically, New Year’s is when we like to mentally start again, to ring out the old and bring in the new. The big glass ball coming down in Times Square in New York City is all about that. House and Garden magazine wrote an article about an Italian custom on New Year’s Eve. The custom involves throwing out the old year and what happened that year, and then bringing in the new year. 

“As midnight on New Year’s approaches in Italy, the streets are clear. There is no traffic or pedestrians; even the police officers take cover. Then, at the stroke of midnight, the windows of the houses fly open. To the sound of laughter, music, and fireworks, each family member pitches out old crockery, detested ornaments, hated furniture, and a whole catalog of personal possessions that remind them of something they want erased from their minds in the past year." Well, at least they have the concept. Whether it works is another subject, but those Italians might be onto something there.

Educator Babatunde Olatunji says, “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and what is today? Today is a gift. That’s why they call it the present.” John R. Rice notes that no matter what a man’s past may have been, his future is spotless. The nicest thing about the future is that it will always start tomorrow. So, please don’t wait for the perfect moment. Take the moment and make it perfect. Or better said, though no one can go back and make a brand-new beginning, anyone can start from now and make a brand-new ending. 

Last year was not a good one for many people. Most people enter a new year believing and carrying the same stuff that made the old year underachieve. Let’s start new again. To begin in the new year, we must think differently to see differently. We need a clear vision in our thinking and seeing (assessing) to have a better 2025. Let us illustrate seeing differently with this story of three engineers. 

Three engineering students were discussing the possible designers of the human body. One said, “It was a mechanical engineer. Just look at all the joints.” Another said, “No, it was an electrical engineer. The nervous system has many thousands of electrical connections.” The last one said, “No, it had to be a civil engineer. Who else would run a toxic waste pipeline through a recreational area?” Now, there is a different way of looking at anatomy and life.   

Let me conclude with six little stories that offer a different set of glasses to view the world, giving us 20-20 vision in seeing the future more positively and accurately. These concepts can lift a person to new heights, realms, and dimensions if applied. They can take a sad song and make it better. 

(1) Once all the villagers decided to pray for rain. On their prayer day, all the people gathered, but only one boy came with an umbrella. That’s faith. (2) When you playfully throw babies in the air, they laugh because they know you will catch them. That’s trust. (3) Every night, we go to bed without any assurance of being alive the next morning, but still, we set the alarm to wake up. That’s hope. 

(4) We plan big things for tomorrow despite little knowledge of the future. That is confidence. (5) We see the world suffering, but still, we get married and have children. That’s love. (6) This sentence was seen on an old man's shirt: "I am not 80 years old; I am sweet 16 with 64 years of experience.” That’s attitude.    

There you go. Eyes with faith, trust, hope, confidence, love, and an uplifting attitude can move us from unfocused or focused on a challenging 2024 to having a 20-20 vision for 2025. Think about this. It may be time to stop thinking about what's happening around us and start thinking about what's happening inside us. 

Samuel Johnson once said, “The future is purchased by the present.” So, let’s learn from the past so we can live in the present and excel in the future. 

Did you know that God can give you a new start, too? “Therefore. if anyone is in Christ that they are a new creature; the old has passed away; behold, new things have come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 And that’s the happiest New Year of all. 

I wish you a happy ‘new view in you year’ in 2025 - and many more!