01 01 08

It’s the New Year all over again. And the earlier inevitable question of “What are you going to do on New Year’s Eve?” were thrown back from one person to the next.

One might feel left out for not planning to celebrate it in the hugest party ever, complete with the whole fireworks and counting down the seconds thing accompanied with funky music blaring out in the background followed by singing Auld Lang Syne afterwards, such as you have seen in many corny American movies.

One might also think that the whole New Year’s Eve celebration was way overrated and chose to just go through it as if it was just any normal evening and went on with their routine as if nothing really changed at all, except the date of the year in which they had to live through.

There were also those who had to pass the change of the year by making sure that the whole system in the country kept running civilised, like the police and the people working on the freeway gates, or train machinists who had to keep the train going otherwise those who came all the way to the city for this one particular Eve just to see the mighty fireworks show wouldn’t be able to get home afterwards.

On an Eve like such, it was obligatory to hear police sirens echoing in the distance every now and then, leaving some of us who passed the night in a quite manner feeling rather displeased by disturbing thoughts of others celebrating the night in a rather riotous ways.

Moreover, it has come to my attention that people chose the New Year as the New Beginning Of Life – though the realisation that we are all getting older is inescapable, there is that hope that we will all do better in the forthcoming year. That’s why New Year’s Resolution never gets old.

For those who had the misfortune of being the victims of natural disaster can hope that the new year will be much kinder and that people will stop abusing the earth they are all living in.

For those who feel that they are stuck in a dead-end jobs can hope that there will be better vacancies available out there – places in which they can really make a living and not feel as if they are going through living hell just to feed their families.

For those who feel the need that the beginning of the New Year is the perfect time to achieve the goals in which they have failed previously before, whatever they might be; losing weight, be more organized, say more ‘I love you’s to their loved ones or even kicking off a habit that sounds so simple and yet so hard to break off, like smoking for example – the New Year is a brand new second (or thrice? fourth?) chance to do better.

And for those who yearn the presence of another soul to complete the emptiness in their heart can wish that this is the year that they will finally meet The One, because Lord knows that more and more souls out there have tried so hard to do so and yet become more repelled by the idea of going through on another insignificant dates and getting their heart broken for the umpteenth time.

But if there is one thing that does not fail – even if everything else has – is Hope. It’s a gift that everyone of us is bestowed upon with, even if we all have gone through many bad patches in life in which we wish we should never reiterate again, if the Lord above be so kind to us all.

So the most important question to ask next is not “What did you do on New Year’s Eve?” or “What are your New Year’s Resolution in 2008?”, but it’s “What are your hopes for this coming New Year?”, so that we can all light a little bit of hope and encourage each other to face the year with a positive attitude.

Happy New Year 2008!