The holidays were hectic and everything Johnny Outlander was put on hold. Today is January 1st, 2018 and it is time to get back to the business at hand, even though the first of January is also the eighth day of Christmas and (if you’re into traditional Christmas carols) we should all be expecting “eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming,” etc.
I’m not sure why, but apparently these posts appear with dates that are one day later than I have written and posted them, so this will probably show a date of January 2nd. I assure you, it is now the first. I didn’t want the new year to start without welcoming it here.
As are most of us, I am hopeful that 2018 will bring great achievements and far, far fewer natural and manmade disasters. The first day of the first month of the new year is a time for new beginnings and positive energies. It is also a time to be kind to ourselves, and to not judge early slips and trips as harbingers of failure or bad tidings. As a wise physician once told me, real change is not measured in days and weeks, but in months and years. That truth has helped my impatient nature more than I can say.
If I can place one thought before you today, it would be to make 2018 a year where you are gentle with yourself, where you take care of yourself, value and forgive yourself, and then — inevitably — your kindness, caring, acceptance and forgiveness will grow and extend to others. In 2018 the world will be a better place and we can proudly be a part of it.