Like pulling on a pair of new socks or climbing into a bed with fresh sheets, we revel in New Year's Eve. It's not the paper hats, budget bubbly and long wait for a cab but rather what Dec. 31 represents.
As Socrates told us, a life unexamined is not worth living. The end of December is the only time our culture is collectively asked to take a moment to reflect on the year behind and ponder the year ahead.
Of course we live with the consequences of yesteryear but the changing of the calendar gives us the symbolic but powerful opportunity to renew our perspective.
Are we holding onto old grudges that it is past time to let go?
Are the goals that might have eluded us in 2014 still the ones we want to achieve in 2015?
Are we coasting on any big achievements without striving to do better still? Keep in mind, if you're the type to make a new year's resolution, even if yours fails in spectacular fashion, you're probably still better for it.
These are the thoughts that should fill our heads as we fill a flute of Baby Duck.
After we've had the chance to reflect and Auld Lang Syne plays in Times Square, we can step forward and greet the new year.
We can't predict all the tragedies and triumphs we'll experience in 2015. Challenges in our homes, in our communities and in the world at large surely wait for us.
Whatever they are, North Shore, we'll face them together.
Happy new year.
