
Tradition dictates that we wish each other a happy New Year. It’s hard to argue with that, and I don’t. But I am thinking about it, about what it means to wish somebody an entire year of happiness – which is probably not the same sentiment, to be honest.
But I’ve been thinking about ‘Happy New Year.’ We are understandably filled with hope that next year is going to be different. It’s going to be our year. Just a change of luck here and there and we’re off, soaring to the heights.
Round about the second or third day of the year, something will happen. There will be a flat tire, a bill – unexpected, an expected bill. Whatever, something will spoil the vibe. This will set in motion a series of thoughts that lead to the inescapable conclusion that this is just another year ahead of us. And, of course, it is just another year ahead of us, just like all the other years that have gone before. And there will be moments of joy, sprinkled on the basic blocks of everyday drudgery, like sugar on a grapefruit.
This is why what I want to do is to wish us all a happy New Now. This is what I have learned in 2021, finally, after 54 years on the planet. All that matters is now. There is no point being stuck in the past, regretting it, or lamenting it, or thinking that it was all glorious and there is no way we can get back to it. The future will soon enough become now, so just sit tight and deal with it in the present. Worrying about the future just spoils the now, and we know that worrying in the past did not change the present.
There is a tendency for things to get worked out either by us, or for us. One way or another, now is all we have. Happy New Now.