I am thinking this evening about the transition we will all soon make into 2022. Whatever is behind us – and there is much – we now say to each other, “Happy New Year!”
“Happy New Year” is about the future.
Saying, “Have a Happy New Year” expresses our desires for another’s good fortune. “Happy New Year” holds our hope for a better tomorrow and our words extend our goodwill for the recipient of our wish.
“Happy New Year” is the wish we make that another person will find joy, relief, comfort, success, peace, satisfaction, connection, restoration, pleasure, and happiness in the days ahead.
To say “Happy New Year” with integrity requires a personal commitment. When we say “Happy New Year,” it only makes sense when our desire for another’s good is strong enough to inspire our own actions to help make it so for them.
So, this year, each time you wish someone “Happy New Year,” consider what you may be willing to do to make goodness happen for that person. Consider your desire for the person’s good. Act in caring ways – even if the recipient never knows it was you.
Tonight, at the end of 2021, we each have a choice about how we use our words, “Happy New Year!” Like the dropping of a glass ball at midnight, we may say them with a dizzy, momentary excitement that quickly shatters in the darkness.
Or we can say “Happy New Year!” as an expression of our true and deep desire for another’s good fortune in 2022, committing ourselves to that purpose.
