I am lazy today, and as a result I have watched New Year’s day roll hour by hour across the globe knowing it will eventually reach me here. I will eventually watch it hit New York, with all its celebration, and then wait for it to hit Chicago and our turn to mark the end of 2022 and welcome the first few seconds of 2023.

I am not one to make resolutions. That way, I don’t have any to break, but I am reflecting on how fast time has moved from the year 2000 to this point. Remember 2000? We stockpiled water, paid to upgrade our computers (I didn’t), and made sure our generators were ready to go at the stroke of midnight. Oh, by the way, nothing happened. In the ensuing two decades plus two, we have cut our landlines, traded cable for streaming, and have more power in our cell phones than the massive computers that got us to the moon and back and better cameras as well. We alternately survived, thrived, suffered, and hung in there through four presidents, swine flu, and Covid-19. The world is definitely not the same as it was back in 1999 when we waited for the clocks to signal a new millennium, borders have changed, technology has changed, and people have changed, but in many ways it is better.

In a few hours as we enter the new year, we can guess what it might bring, but only time will tell. The one thing that is for sure, is that if we can find ways to be more positive and less negative, more forgiving and less judgmental, more accepting and less divisive, 2023 can be a continued improvement over our past. At the stroke of midnight, wherever you are, the new year holds your future and awaits your decisions. Make those decisions the best they can be and trust that the rest of us will join in.

I wish you all a Happy New Year and a blessed 2023. Newness and change are great gifts not to be wasted. 

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1Deb Shepherdwundrow