Just Because

It’s here.  The year 2006 is here.  When I went outdoors this morning to pick up the paper and water the dog, it didn’t look or smell any different than all of the other years.  But according to the calendar and our way of tracking time, this is indeed a new year and a beginning again of sorts.
I don’t suppose people are really saying anything different about this new year, but I seem to be hearing more of hope and promise for this year than I’ve heard in some of the years past.  Maybe it’s the war.  Maybe it’s the economy.  Maybe it’s the deterioration of morals and etiquette.  Maybe, though, just maybe people are ready to be optimistic for awhile.
It’s within us all…that spirit of optimism and hopefulness which causes us to press on and keep going.  Whether we “have it all”, as they say, or whether we just barely hang on, the drive to succeed and make a way for ourselves is one of the strongest in the human repertoire.
Much of the world environment is so different from our U.S. culture that it may appear that we’re in another solar system when we encounter the massive problems and issues in places like Indonesia, Somalia, and Haiti.  But even there, we see sparks of hope within the human form and the drive to survive, succeed, and grow.
This year, do something that celebrates the human capacity to hope in the midst of hopelessness.  Connect with something larger than yourself.  Make a difference.  Be a friend.  Demonstrate compassion.  Share the wealth.  Cry, laugh, celebrate, mourn, cherish, embrace and love.  Just because.