What will the new year bring into our lives?

Spectrum
Maturity
Terri Andersen
What will the new year bring into our lives?
Here it is, another new year, and so many of us wonder where last year's time went. At least that's the impression I get from the people who wrote notes in their Christmas cards to “I can't believe another year has passed,” some said. “Where did the time go?" others asked. According to Einstein's theory of relativity, the passage of time can be arduously long or extremely short, depending to what's going on in our life at the moment. Someone said an example of Einsteins theory would be the difference between five minutes sitting on a hot stove and five minutes spent with someone you love. I know that when I had a bad cold that lasted two weeks in December, I felt like I'd been sick for such a long time there must be something seriously wrong. Then when the cold finally went away and I got into getting ready for Christmas, two weeks didn't feel like a long time at all. In fact, it felt like too short a time to get everything done. I have to admit that feeling miserable for two weeks made me appreciate feeling fine again when my cold was gone. I realized I had pretty much taken good health for granted most of the time. I think getting older and realizing that the body gets more fragile as we age has made me more appreciative of small favors, like being able to sidestep a trip on the stairs by grabbing the railing just in time to avoid a fall that possibly could have resulted in a broken bone. Now, every time I almost fall but don't, I say “thank you" to whatever source prevented me from having a bad fall. Other “almost” incidents also make me feel grateful. Just the other day I was cracking an egg into a bowl and somehow my hand bumped into the bowl and almost knocked it off the counter top. Luckily, I righted the dish before its contents could fall to the floor and land inside the heating grate next to the counter. Imagining what an odor that might have caused if I couldn't get into the grate to clean it. I said my little “thank you" for that, too. Then there are times when I don't feel grateful at all, like when everything that was familiar is taken over by technology to “make things easier for us" — and all it does is confuse me and make everything more complicated, especially anything to do with cell phones, cameras and computers. [My husband gave me a digital movie camera for my birthday last year, but no matter how hard I try to study the manual, I just can't seem to operate that camera.] I guess what I'm trying to say is that I miss the way things were when I understood everything and felt reasonably smart. Lately I feel so behind in technology that too much seems to be beyond my comprehension. I don't particularly like that feeling and don't know what to expect in 2006. Like most years, 2005 was wonderful for some people and horrible for others, especially the people who faced devastation in the hurricanes and landslides, and the loss of jobs, homes and lives. Yet so much compassion was displayed by so many people that we can't say it was a totally terrible year. What I'd like to see in 2006 is what the Spectrum staff hoped for in their first edition of this new year — namely, world peace, greater tolerance of differences in people at home and abroad, people reaching out to help others, plus quality progress in New Milford's educational and economic programs. _
I'd also like to see what preacher Joel Osteen wrote about in the January issue of Guideposts. He urged that we choose happiness by concentrating on what's good in our lives instead of what's wrong; by being true to who we are and not trying to be what we're not; by not giving up when things seem hopeless but using positive words and uplifting quotes that can work miracles; and by doing more giving than taking. [Helping someone else in need is one of the best gifts you can give yourself.] For the New Milford Senior Center, 2006 started off with it: much-loved program director, Catherine Bachrach, retiring at the end of January, and I’m sure all the seniors who frequent the center wish that weren't so. Catherine was the quintessential cheerer-upper for all of us who know her. She made everyone feel special and welcomed at the center, never seemed to lose her capacity for cheeriness, and did a wonderful job in choosing programs for seniors to enjoy. If someone was feeling out of sorts, she provided a sympathetic ear and did her best to soothe whatever was bothering them. A true gem, Catherine will be sorely missed. * Hopefully, 2006 will be a year that people remember for mostly good things happening.
Terri Andersen, who lived in New Milford for 36 years and has been a regular columnist in the “Spectrum Maturity" section of The Greater New Milford Spectrum the past several years, recently moved to North Carolina.