Happy (Blank) Year!

Ever stroll down the aisle at your local supermarket or big-box retailer and get excited about a product that proclaims "It's New!? Big deal, so it's new! Does the fact that something is new automatically qualify it as fabulous? Of course not. Would you buy a piece of clothing off a rack just because the tag says it's new, even if you don't know the size, color or even gender? No way. Then why do we get so excited when the previous year ends and the current one begins? After all, the calendar remains the same, only the year is incremented.

The point I am belaboring is: just because the year is new doesn't automatically make it a happy one. We should all strive to make every year a great year. And if we succeed, perhaps we can even have a "Happy Previous Year" party. Obviously, I nominate 2007 as a year worth celebrating (need I mention the reunion?).

The concept is not meant to be taken literally; the giant ball in Times Square wouldn't go back up the pole and confetti wouldn't fly into windows. But what a feeling of accomplishment it would be to recognize the ways in which we made the most of the months in the rear-view mirror. If the future is unknown and the past is gone, then the present is both a starting AND finishing line. And both are necessary to run a good race.

As we race towards the finish line, we should occasionally look back to ensure that we're on the right track, straight and true, as well as look ahead to try and overcome whatever obstacles may be in our way. But it's the pace that's most important - coasting the continuum at a good clip, but not so quickly as to let the good times roll by in a blur. We must savor each one because, as has been said many times before, when all is said and done, it's not really as much from whence we start or whither we end as it is about the path we take along the way. And, as we follow that yellow brick road, let's take the time to celebrate the journey in toto, too.

So, let's lift a glass and give a toast to life. As that wonderful old Irish proverb goes: "May the road rise up to greet you, and the wind always be at your back."