Chapter 12, Page 31, Book 2020

The New Year stands before us, like a chapter in a book waiting to be written.

Melody Beattie

December 31st - closing the book of 2020

The best is yet to come.

Frank Sinatra

Sometimes when I finish a book, it’s so good I hate to see it end, but not so for my book of 2020.  Every page I’ve written this year belongs in the past and that’s where I’m going to leave it.  I’m excited about writing the book of 2021.  It’s going to be filled with anticipation and new growth, new beginnings.  

Every ending must have a new beginning and that is what happens after I close a book.  The years just seem to keep rolling olong one after the other.  I’ve been on blogger for quite a long time now, I started here before it became popular to blog, now it’s become one of best habits. 

I’m thrilled to be starting another New Year and can’t wait to see what happens.  This is definitely a time to celebrate and be happy.  And I intend to stay happy every day of the year!  It’s all a matter choice, and I choose to e happy rather than sad.  Every day may not be a good one, but there is something good to be found in every day when you look for it.  I’m going to make every day the best day of the year!

We will open the book, its pages are blank, we are going put words on them ourselves.

The book is called opportunity and its first chapter is New Years Day

Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Chapter 12, Page 30, Book 20

Don’t just hope for great year, 

Make it a great year.

Author Unknown

December 30th- If you can dream it you can do it

Cheers to the new year and another chance for us to get it right .

Oprah Winfrey

Making dreams happen only proves what kind of an individual we are, it means we know what we really want in life.  Everyone has a dream but it takes a lot of patience and hard work to realize it.  

I’m one who believes that life is what you make it and think that if we have a dream, we can make it come true.  Putting your dreams into a reality is a serious business.  The truly successful people are big dreamers who find their dreams and inspire others.  They make a difference.

If you do not couple your dream with action, then it is nothing.  To accomplish your dreams you must take action.  Take small steps at a time, but don’t be afraid to dream. It you put hard work towards something, anything is possible.  Every great success begins with a dream.

Some fill their lives with positive action and are result oriented, But it all begins with a dream.  No matter how unachievable a task might seem, what the human mind conceives, it achieves.

More essential than conceiving a dream is to pursue it, even in the face of adversity.  Mere dreaming has not led anyone anywhere, but when you pursue it, it will lead you to what your heart aspires to. Or as William Arthur Ward said, if you can imagine it, you can achieve it. 

I am going to apply this thought to my New Year and make it happen!

Ring out the old, Ring in the New!

Ring out wild bells to the wild sky,

The flying cloud, the frosty light

The year is dying in the night;

Ring out wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the od, ring in the new,

Ring happy bells, across the snow;

The year is going, let him go,

Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Alfred Tennyson

Chapter 12, Page 29, Book 20

Don’t try to be the best, just do your best.

Author Unknown

December 29th - The best we can do is enough.

Do the best you can, with what you can, while you can and success is inevitable.

Steve Maraboli

I like to think we’re all doing the best we know how to do what we can these days.  Not everyone has the same means and resources but we use what what we have to do the best we can as far as living our lives goes.  I’m not the best person I know,  but I’m doing the best I can to live my life to the fullest.

There is not always a lot I can do but what I do is the best I’ve got to give.  The best of what anyone can do should be enough.  Sufficient for their lives.  We are all so different and I don’t think another person should be able to determine if you are doing your best.  Each of us knows just what our best is and don’t need others to tell us that is not good enough.  Likewise we shouldn’t be jealous of what others do.  They are only doing their best.  There is no comparison.  

I remember thinking that whatever I did was never good enough as far as what my parents thought i should be doing, so when I had my own children, I made sure to let them know that they were doing their best.  I’d praise and encourage whatever it was they were doing.  All any of us can do is to give it our best try.  

We learn by doing and sometimes that means we make mistakes but at least we find out what we did wrong .  Now we know better, we can do it better.  If we don’t give our best, we won’t succeed at anything.  It’s the trying and doing the brings success to any of us.  So try to do your best at anything you do and you’ll find success is just ahead.  

Do the best you can until you know better.  Then when you know better, do better.

Maya Angelou

Chapter 12, Page 28, Book 20

The great thing about getting older is you don’t lose all the ages you’ve been.

Madeline L'Engle

December 28th - The older I get the more I lose loved ones I’ve known.

The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes.

Frank Lloyd Wright 

We’ve heard so much about the horrors of aging from the onset of aches and pains to having senior moments.  Plenty of myths about aging have been debunked, like he idea of aging domes you to a life of lethargy and unhappiness.

I think aging is a privilege.  Not all of us live to see old age.  And the older I get I do see the death of many of my loved ones. Some died before their time and were young, some died old but never really lived.  This week saw the death of my SIL’s mom.  She was younger than me and died from the effects of covid 19 which really shook us all up. 

We thought she would improve and come home again, never thought that she would die, but she did.  The news devastated us all.  We hear the numbers all the time but never put a personal face to them.  Now we can.

Yes, aging is a privilege I’m very thankful for and I never regret any of the other ages I’ve been.  I’ve enjoyed my life to the fullest and it has been filled with many blessings.  

Death is never expected and comes when it’s least thought about, but truth be told, it is a part of life.  The sooner we acknowledge that, the more we appreciate life and all it holds.  I never take anyone for granted.  They may be here today but gone tomorrow.  We should never take those we love for granted, but show them our love and appreciation every day and  in every way we can.  

So today I’m choosing to stay out of the darkness and sadness, and embrace the joys of growing older gracefully.  

In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count, it’s the life in your years.

Abraham Lincoln

Chapter 12, Page 27, Book 20

Time - Use it or lose it.  Time like a snowflake, disappears while we’re trying to decide what to do with it.  The surest way to be late is to have plenty of time.

Leo Kennedy

December 27th - thankful Sunday

Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

Bertrand Russell

Today I’m thankful I have all the time I need to think good thoughts and be grateful for them.  My thoughts this week have been wide and varied, from sadness to happiness.  I was sad not to have our usual family gathering but so happy we could see and talk to each other over a Zoom call on Saturday. 

I’m thankful for today, another day and a chance to have time to get it right. Spending my time thinking about what is truly important in my life is not wasted time.  It helps me keep focused on the important things in my life.

I’m thankful to have had the time to spend with DE#5 and DD who shared their children with me, Children know how to enjoy Christmas to the fullest!  Nothing but joy in their faces.

Although it was a different Christmas, I’m thankful it was all good!

 

Don’t waste your time in anger, regrets, worries and grudges.  Life is too short to be unhappy.

Roy T. Bennett

Chapter 12, Page 24, Book 20

What is Christmas? It is the tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future.  It is a fervent wish that every cup, may flow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace.

Agnes M. Pharo 

December 25th - Merry Christmas!

Many merry Christmas, friendships, great accumulation of cheerful recollections, affection on earth, and Heaven at last for all of us.

Charles Dickens

Christmas is time of love and cheer.  A time for making memories to last throughout the year.

It’s a time of healing and renewed strength. It is a time of giving and receiving. A time to reflect, remember and rejoice.

Christmas is a time for peace, renewal and hope. Christmas is no doubt the most wonderful time of year. 

Christmas is the day that holds time together.

Alexander Smith

Chapter 12, Page 24, Book 20

My idea of Christmas, whether old fashioned or modern, is very simple; loving others.Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that.

Bob Hope

December 24th - Christmas Eve 

Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone.

Charles Schultz

I really think Christmas should be every day of the year.

How about being more generous every day, smiling more giving our loved ones an occasional meal. We don’t have to wait till Christmas to have a party.  We could practice more patience every day from traffic jams to grocery shopping.

Simple acts of kindness always have big effects.  Remembering to thank others more for what they do  

Live in the moment, and don’t let technologies disrupt your interactions with others and cherish each moment for what it is.

The lessons of Christmas are many.  The good news that there is nothing stopping  us from taking these feelings and actions the other 364 days of the yawn. instead of waiting for that one time of year to let ourselves become decent human beings. 

We could wake up excited every morning like we  do on Christmas day.  Committed to making it the best day ever.  Be grateful for your life and what you have and everyone you get to share it with.

Everything is life is more fun when we share it with the people we love.   

Love is in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.

Author Unknown

Chapter 12, Page 23, Book 20

It’s Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air.

W.T. Ellis

;December 23rd - Christmas is in the air and so is the virus

Christmas now surrounds us.  Happiness is everywhere.  Our hands are busy with many tasks as carols fill the air.

Shirley Sallay

Christmas brings people together and reminds us of what is important. .  But this year we are encouraged to keep a safe distance and stay apart.  This seems to be contrary to everything I’ve ever known.  There won’t be any holiday parties to attend or getting together with family and friends.

The risk isn’t worth taking the chance.  This year many are struggling just to put food on the table and many won’t be buy presents to give since they’ve lost their jobs, so I’m just going to be thankful that I have enough to eat and be happy about that.  We can still keep that Christmas spirit by helping others and sharing our time and money.

Food banks need food and shelters need blankets and clothing.  There are many ways to give .I think people are in need of a different way to connect with others and this is something we all can safely do.

Our family is getting together over a Zoom phone call.  We’ll all be safe, but we won’t be together as we usually are. For some, seeing others in person is not something they are willing to put off.  But by keeping those gatherings small,, keeping distanced and continuously masked, it can be done.  And it will mean no food or drink either.  We did Thanksgiving outdoors, but right now it’s too cold out to consider such an event.  This Christmas definitely won’t be the same, but it will still happen and we can still share the holiday spirit.

Nothing seems to bring people together like Christmas.

Steven Dodrill

Chapter 12, Page 22, Book 20

Christmas isn’t a season.  It’s a feeling.

Edna Ferber

December 22nd - Christmas in the heart

He who has not Christmas in his heart, will never find it under a tree

Roy L. Smith 

The Christmas heart is full of love, caring and sharing, generous and affectionate.  It’s truly Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in air.  Christmas is a time to open your heart with love and your life with laughter.  True giving from the heart is a expression love .  There are times when our hands are empty but our heart are always full of love.

You can give without loving, but you can’t love without giving.  Sharing goodwill this season is what Christmas is all about.  

It’s the magical time of year when miracles happen.  The way to increase the Christmas spirit is to reach out generously to others.  

Christmas is supposed to be forever, not just one day. For loving, sharing and giving are not to put away like bells and lights and tinsel, in some box upon a shelf.  Remember the good you do for others is good you do yourself.  The Christmas story is one of the greatest love stories ever told.  Love came down at Christmas bring peace and goodwill to all men.

This is going to be a different kind of Christmas for most of us, but one thing never changes and that is love. Love never fails and never gives up.  

I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. 

Charles Dickens