Happy New Year!

Well folks, the New Year has arrived and I wish you a better year than last year. Did you stay up and watch the New Year arrive? I did not and I got to thinking about why this is not important to me. Perhaps it is because my family never made much about a new year arriving. Oh I must have stayed up when I was a teenager, but I do not recall anything special.

Another thing I was not big on was in making New Year’s resolutions. However I have changed in this area. As many of you know, Betty and I used to host Rotary exchange students. Some of them had different customs were a bit different. I remember our Brazilian daughters always gave up a favorite fruit for a year.

They would write their favorite fruit’s name on separate pieces of paper and put them in a bowl. They would close their eyes and reach into that bowl and whatever fruit they picked, they gave up for a year. They were very conscientious in keeping their vows. So I started to make some resolutions for myself.

Last year, for instance, I gave up watching television on Sunday; I also gave up doing computer games on Sunday also. I am happy to report that this old man lived up to his vows! In fact I made the same two resolutions this year.

I have come to believe that it is good for a person to deprive themselves. At least it makes me think of more important things than television and games. Was it and is it good for me to do this? I like to think so.

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