Looking at life in new way in new year

By now you may have taken down your Christmas tree, returned several gifts, stopped looking at yourself in the mirror, started wearing clothes that would have swallowed you last summer and decided, like you do every year, that you’re glad it’s all over.

It’s time to again return to thoughts of doing better…turning over a new leaf…resolving to make a fresh start…and freeing ourselves from old patterns that weighed us down during the last year.

I wrote a New Year’s theme column several years ago for which I received many request for a re-run. I think you will find the following information useful.

Consider examining some of the ways you have been looking at the world around you and see if an alteration in your perspective can modify the outcomes in your life.

For example:

Things that seem too good to be true are often just that, not true. You don’t have to become a cynic to question the reality of some of the things you hear and see, especially those in the media. Success comes primarily from hard work. Don’t quit your day job while waiting on the lottery drawing.

Be assured it is virtually impossible to please everyone. Those who continue to try are two hips short of a hip, hip, hooray!

Trying to motivate and inspire some people is like trying to make unleavened bread rise. Some people simply can’t be happy unless they are piling abuse upon themselves, emptying whole dump-truck loads at a time.

Don’t invest in something you don’t understand. There wouldn’t be a sucker born every minute if there were not a whole army of flimflam men born every second.

Don’t expect everyday to be a great day. Most days can be good days, some days can be great days, and some days are just flat bummers. When you turn up with a bummer, don’t assume you are on a roll. Tomorrow, or maybe the next day, is going to be better, especially if you decide that it is going to be better.

Give yourself a pat on the back whenever possible. It’s unlikely that many others have or will take the time to do it for you. You can be your own quiet and personal cheering section without incorporating so much hot air that you begin to rise.

You can be flexible and tolerant and also be principled and strong in character. Stereotypical thinking leads to a world where the sun rarely rises and the nights are without stars.

Don’t listen for only what you want to hear and recognize only what you want to see. Growth comes with change.

Although there are a few absolutes in life, there aren’t many. End points may be stop and go, black and white, and on and off, light and dark. There are, however, whole worlds of possibilities between these points.

Make 1995 the year of new possibilities. Decide to rub your eyes and look again…clear your ears and listen anew…open your mind and dream what might be.