2025 is here whether we like it or not. We are all a year older and hopefully also a year wiser. Every year brings its high and lows, for sure. Some years are tougher than others and we are happy to see them in the rearview mirror. Other years are filled with terrific memories and experiences.
For most of us, every year is a mix even if tilted in one direction or the other punctuated by happy and sad things.
My family has had a tough year. Deaths of loved ones close on the heels of other recent deaths and some turmoil out of our control that brought angst, sleeplessness, and times of feeling helpless. So, for us, kicking 2024 out the back door seems like a fine idea. There were good things too and we did do some laughing along the way.
As we turn the corner toward 2025, we look forward to putting some things to rest and having a more normal lifestyle. We’ve had enough of ‘drop everything now’ and “I’m not sure what’s going on’.
I hope to take some trips in 2025, finish a few house projects that have been waiting their turn, and do some hiking and gardening.
I also look forward to January 20th and the inauguration of Donald Trump as President of the United States. These last four years have been rough on us, many people we know, and for our country as a whole, and that has created a lot of daily stress we didn’t always recognize. After the election, when a sigh of relief was had, the realization of the effects of a failed presidency were apparent. A sense of relief and optimism took hold and our mood shifted.
We had been living with the every day effects of failed immigration policy, failed economic policy, failed foreign and domestic policy, failed energy policy – just bad everything that affected each of us in everything we do and created a cloud of worry. And, if you live in New York, you also have seen some of your fundamental constitutional rights attacked and whittled away.
I have no illusions that President Trump will be the ‘best thing ever’ – he is as flawed as anyone. But, what I do know is that the ‘Make America Great Again’ way of approaching the job and solving the problems brings a sense of optimism that our country can ‘Get Back on Track Again’.
I realize many friends and family, and people I don’t know, feel wounded by this election. That they have fears about what will happen and they think it will be bad things. I have compassion for them in that I don’t want them to feel badly or worry, but I also know those feelings are a choice and that those feelings are not based on anything real that is proposed or has happened before – not anything rational anyway.
I hope everyone can have a good sigh in 2025 and let some things go and support our country as it recovers and gets even better. I know the flag will be flying proudly at my home.