30 December 2014 10:39 PM

Most of the countries in the world today use what we call a Gregorian Calendar. This calendar was introduced in 1582 by the Catholic Church and was named in honor of Pope Gregory XIII. This calendar was itself an adaptation to the Julian calendar implemented by Julius Caesar in 46 BC.

These calendars are solar based which means they measure the time it takes for planet earth to make one revolution (a full turn) around the sun. The calendar is divided by months, weeks, days, etc.

It took many years for this calendar to be implemented all around the world and become legal in many countries. The standardization of the calendar helped create more efficiency in trade and human interactions.

I say the above to note that the calendar is a human invention which many of us take for granted. We grew up with this calendar, we used it every day and most of us don’t think much about it or know what it means.

Most of us think that the calendar measures time, though this statement is controversial as there are different views of what time is. Some people believe that time is a concept invented by humans and others believe that time actually exists and we can measure it.

Regardless what may be true, what we have done in our world is to come up with some standardized system on which we divide the cycles of earth’s trips around the sun, which helps us to have specific and precise date points on which we can transact, plan and or do whatever we please.

Did you also know that the new year didn’t always start on January first? This also became a custom that, through the years, became a standard.

Now that we have some background data on our calendar and the beginning of the year, let’s focus on the new year which is about to begin. For many of us, this is a mark, a point in our lives when we often stop to ponder our life, what we did in the last year and plan what we want to accomplish in the year to come.

During this time we usually reflect on our life, our dreams and our mistakes so we can become more aware of ourselves and what we do, so we can aspire to be better.

When you think about your last year, what would you say were the highlights of it? What are you most grateful for? What do you believe were your biggest mistakes? When you think about this, do you feel proud about yourself? Do you regret some moments and are proud of others?

When you think about the year to come and what you want to achieve, do you feel good about it? Do you have trepidations?

I don’t know what last year was like for you or what you want for the next, but if I had a wish for you it would be that you feel grateful to be alive and that you feel proud about yourself and your life.

I know this can be difficult at times, especially if we don’t feel good about ourselves or if we don’t believe we have accomplished anything important. But it doesn't have to be this way.

Please think about it. Isn't it amazing that against all probabilities we survived one more year? We survived against all possible accidents, threatening health issues or crime and violence. And we made it! We made it! We survived and lived another full year.

You may not know how to accomplish your dreams or how to get rid of bad habits, you may not have accomplished all that you want, but please remember that your failures do not make you a worthless individual and your unrealistic expectations do not make you less than the perfect image you may have had of yourself. No, no.

We are humans and we are imperfect--that is part of our nature. We can all improve and be better, but even if we don’t, we are still valuable, beautiful and magnificent. We may just not believe it yet because of our perceived failures.

I’d like to propose that for this new year, we set as one of our goals to love ourselves no matter what. No matter our mistakes, failures or unrealized expectations. I vote that we learn to stand up when we want to stay on the floor beaten by life’s difficulties, and that we learn to shed the dust from our legs and continue walking towards our vision.

I vote that we extend our hands for others doing the same, so we can become stronger and that we seek to learn from those who are the way we want to be and who know how to do what we want to be doing.

I vote for us to become better as we cry the tears of our caring for others and ourselves. And I vote that our dreams and goals are based first on love and then on everything else, so no matter if we triumph or fall, we would always have a heart full of love.

What would you like to vote for? What else would you like to be like? How would you like to feel as you live your new year?

With love,

Edgar Boone

A New Year!