I have given up making New Year’s Resolutions. Yearly they were made with great resolve and determination to keep them. Maybe a month or two into the New Year they were forgotten or deemed impossible and so away they flew with the wind.

Instead, as the New Year of 2012 begins I re-examine the lessons I have learned on my 77-year journey through life and share them with you.

Use the Talents that God Gives

Not every person is earmarked for fame or fortune. Recognizing the things we do best and use them for our betterment and those around us is a responsibility and offers great joy. The ability to reach out with a smile, touch a hand in time of need, speak words of comfort, praise or counsel are talents God intends us to use.

Find Joy in our Surroundings

There will be those to scoff at what the eye beholds in our surroundings. The ability to look beyond is rewarding and gives great joy. The color of the sky as night is beginning to fall with shades of blues, pinks, reds, or gold intermingled with clouds, the stance of a tree with a trunk that requires more than two people to embrace, fresh fallen snow that glitters and sparkles, the cherry blossoms in full bloom, the church steeples that reach into the sky reminding us of who we are, and the interaction and greetings of people we meet in our daily lives.

Listen to the Voice Within

Many will call it intuition and perhaps it is. I prefer to think of that voice as the Holy Spirit who plants an idea or thought in our minds. It is a thought that does not go away. Maybe it is a call to a relative or friends, a note that must be answered, applying for a job, volunteering, visiting a sick neighbor with a little token in hand. Trying to dismiss the thought with later, tomorrow, or I’ll get to it doesn’t work. If the thought keeps coming back it‘s the Holy Spirit..

When you’re in the River, Swim

Papa’s favorite expression. When a problem arises and must be resolved you stay the course. Each step or stroke takes you closer to the opposite side or solution.

Keep the Lines of Communication Open

Expressing feelings and thoughts were not learned early in life. We were taught that children were seen and not heard. Keeping unexpressed thoughts and anger inside leads to a festering of the heart which is damaging to communicating. Listen to what is being said with an open ear and understanding heart..

Crusaders Stand Alone

Climbing on a soapbox to take a stand on an issue that is truly believed in sometimes can be disappointing and lonely but worthwhile. Not everyone will believe in you or want to stand with you. The important thing is that you had the courage and conviction to take a stand.

Life’s Changing Styles

I remember sitting in a fifth grade class and the teacher relating that in our lifetime there would be a material that would not have to ironed, people would go to outer space, and a loaf of bread would cost $3.00. Those are little changes in comparison to I-phones, I-pads, and I-pods. Life was so simple when we turned on the radio and listened to the “Green Hornet” or picked up a phone and heard “number please.”

As the numbers in age increase changes in life styles are difficult to understand: Direct Deposit, ATM machines, paying bills on line, shopping on line and Skye. Yikes!

A Friend is a Gift You Give Yourself

I remember reading those words on a plaque that hung in a dear friend’s home. Friends are people who come into your life and a connection of mutual feelings of understanding, laughter, caring, respect and loyalty are shared. A friend does more than share laughter and good times. They are there in time of need, unhappiness, and difficulty holding your hands or listening with a tissue in hand. Friends are priceless.

Faith in God gets Stronger with Age

It is a grace implanted in our hearts and souls that draw us closer to Him. There is a realization and comfort that we have not come this far in life alone. It is a time of gratitude and thanksgiving for who we are and all that has been given to us.

Retirement is the Crowning Glory of Years of Hard Work

The reward of freedom from the daily responsibility of earning a living. The luxury of staying in bed on a cold, snowy morning. The realization that you have arrived and that time is not money but LIFE.

Survival

Every day living offers joys, disappointments and let downs. They are coped with and life goes on. Sometimes we are hit with an event that is painful to the heart and soul and the journey seems insurmountable. One day on that journey comes the realization there is a hidden factor within us that is called “Survival.”

The process of “Survival” has no rules or time limits. Living each day one at a time, accepting support from family and friends, keeping busy and above all Trust in God. Trust in God sometimes is the hard part when your mind and heart are crying out “Why Me?” Then the miracle happens when one day you can honestly say, “Why not me?” I am a human being, living in a human body and a society with countless malfunctions. What happens is not God’s fault.

LOVE

Love every minute of your day. Love those who surround you. Love what you are doing even though it is not your favorite task. Love life, enjoy it and appreciate it.

About the Author

$author.title covers $author.covers for the Times Leader. Reach them at $author.phone or $author.email.

Archives

No resolutions for 2012

Looking for that Christmas magic

October snow and November days

Celebrating our heritage, honoring our ancestry

August was a roller coaster ride

Thoughts on a rainy day

Happy birthday, America

The merry month of May, and April too

The cousins come home to visit

Where the journey ends