Simple Delights
Remember when you were a child? You embraced new experiences. You took delight in the silly, little things. For example, when it rained, you could not wait to put on your slickers and run outside to jump into the puddles to see how high or how far you could splash out the water. Now, that was pure joy.
Do you want to know something funny? A few years ago around Christmas time while we were in the Lesser Antilles, I actually saw similar patterns. Mind you, it does not snow in the Lesser Antilles, oh no! However, I spotted the "Angels" in the sand on the beach! It seems that "Snow Birds", which is what they call Canadians who leave Canada during the cold season and head on South to warmer climates, had left their mark in the sand. This time, rather than Snow Angels, I saw a number of "Sand Angels". This really made me laugh and smile!
However, back to making real snow angels. Need I mention, that we would repeat falling backward into the fresh, fluffy show and making the motions of a jumping jack in order to perfect our snow angels? Soon, all the open spaces of our whole neighborhood were decorated with them, to the delight of our neighbors young and old.
An elderly couple who lived a few houses down from
us, who took special delight in our snow angels. They would invite us into their home to dry off and warm
up with some hot chocolate and homemade cookies. They confided in us that they too would make
snow angels when they were children. The
couple themselves had passed along this tradition to their own son, who had enthusiastically
embraced it. Sadly, their son had been
killed in the war. The freshly made snow
angels we had made brought back the happy memories they had shared with their
son.
It was this lovely couple, who then encouraged us to carry
on another tradition they had shared with their son. Namely, it was a way to close out the old year
and start the new one in 3 steps. We
promised to carry on this lovely tradition and have shared it with our family,
friends, and acquaintances.
THE THREE STEPS to Leave Your Cares Behind AND Jump into the New Year
To accomplish this feat, everyone in your group or family has
to find a chair, stepping stool, an old telephone book (remember those?!), the
bottom step of a staircase, a brick, or a similar elevated item.
- Step 1 – Climb up onto the chair (or similar) with both feet and leave all the sad and unhappy experiences of the past behind you on the ground!
- Step 2 – Remain on the chair (or similar) as you count down to the New Year and remember all the beautiful experiences of the past and bring them along to the New Year. (see my post Stay Positive)
- Step 3 – At the count of ZERO, carefully take a giant leap back down to the ground, and make a wish to embrace all the wonderful and new experiences that the New Year will bring.
You may think this is a silly way to start the New Year. However, I hope it will bring out the child
in you and open your eyes to the simple joys in life and lots of new adventures
in the New Year.
So, as the clock advances to midnight on New Year's Eve,
remember the THREE STEPS!
I wish you and your loved ones a Healthy, Safe, Happy, and Prosperous New Year, and may all your wishes come true.
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