You can’t judge a New Year by the way it starts

Istiqlál (Independence), 3 Sharaf (Honor), 165 BE – Friday, January 2, 2009 about 8:27 AM Pacific Time

You can't judge a New Year by the way it starts. A year can begin either good or bad and then change half way through. There are ways to begin the New Year on a high note, but that doesn't mean the year will remain going well.

The beginning of a New Year is like the beginning of a day. It starts out either good or bad depending on the person. This year, for the most part, started on a good note. My checking account wasn't overdrawn on January 1 and Mom got a raise on her Social Security. However, just because the year started out good doesn't mean it will stay that way. Anymore then a day starting out bad means it will go from bad to worse.

All a person can do is hope and have faith. Say prayers, at least three times a day, and hope that the day will improve. If a day or a year starts out bad, then they can always improve. If they start out good then they can always get worse. However, the day or the year can just as easily do neither.

My grandparents never seemed to let the way a day began or end affect their mood. If the day began bad, then they did something to cause the situation to change. Sometimes the only thing they could do way pray and they did. Prayer changes things, it changes either the situation or the person's approach to the situation.