So that’s 2015 almost done, dusted and packed away in our memories. We’re half way
through a decade and I still can’t work out how to pronounce it. Was it
twenty-fifteen or two thousand and fifteen? And does it matter?
As ever it’s been a year of ups and downs. I had a big
birthday in June. I turned 65! I know how to pronounce that; it’s pronounced
‘old’! The best thing about my birthday was spending it in Jaffa and the
best thing about Jaffa was watching the mix of cultures and religions, living
shoulder by shoulder, with tolerant smiles. So much can change so quickly or
was it an illusion created for me, the tourist?
This time last year I was tentatively thinking of getting
myself fitter. Now I go swimming twice a week and I love it but I haven’t quite
mastered the gym… yet.
This time this
year I’m tentatively thinking of joining a choir. I’ve just signed up for a
taster session with the National Rock Choir. I wonder if I’ll enjoy it. I won’t
know until I try.
A few months ago I bought a new car… new, but the same make,
the same colour; the only difference is the registration plate.
Yes, I’m a bit conservative. I don’t like change but I can’t
stop the date from changing. It’ll take me a few weeks to get used to writing
2016 but I won’t be making New Year resolutions. I’m old enough to know that it’s
not only with a new year that we can have new opportunities. They’re there at
any time of the year. It’s up to us to grab them. Right?
So let’s drink to a year of new opportunities, opportunities
that we don’t let slip by, opportunities that we grab and run with.
Happy New Year
