Jan 1...the special day

What is it about January the first that makes it so special?
I spent the waning moments of 2005 and the birth of 2006 pondering this. Sitting in the car, amidst the unending honking in a traffic jam, I thought about...

1. New Year is a powerful day. People (some of them at least) set aside their problems, they lay aside the pessimism, and they say that the next 365 days will be different. They embarce hope. They immerse themselves in a belief that this year will be, can be better. And so they celebrate.

2. Everyday holds the same possiblities. There is this short clip in the movie, Jerry Maguire, where Maguire's mentor says, "I clap my hands in the morning when I wake up, because it is a brand new day!" Perhaps we should celebrate each new day as we celebrate each new year. Why should self-improving resolutions be limited to the first day of the year? Why should Jan 1 hold more hope that the other 364 days? I say, let's hope, live, and celebrate each day, because this day is new, it is special and there neither has been any like it nor will there be another one like it.

3. Positive thinking/living is a choice. It is not dependent on circumstances. No other day in the year is this contrast better illustrated than on Jan 1. On Jan 1, people write down resolutions and say, life from here on out WILL be different. These people gather up the chords of their lives and claim mastery over the circumstances that once beguiled them. Yet, in June and July, these same people may say, "I can't help it," or, "it's not my fault, it's the circumstances."

4. Positive thinking without positive action is a cunning deception. Resolutions without a solid action plan and a disciplined adherence are just that: resoultions...left to be renewed year after year, as part of tradition and festivities instead of a drive to be more than what you are.

5. Finally, I must admit that I was mostly thinking about what to eat and where to get it. Heh. Disturbed by the rumbling of my tummy (which could have been mistaken for El Nino), I thought to myself, this day really isn't that different from the others...