Tag Archives: New year

2015, The Magic Year

Licensed Marriage Family Therapist

Nancy Stoops M.A., M.F.T Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist

By Nancy Stoops

 

Once again, Happy New Year to all of you wonderful beings. Yes, it’s a new beginning for us all.   It’s a chance to start fresh and finally become who we are meant to be.

 

The New Year brings unlimited possibilities and new energy that helps us believe that the sky is the limit.  The New Year gives us hope and many new chances.  I say, take these chances and make this year the best one ever!

 

Start this process by setting some small, very obtainable, daily goals.  Once you’re in the groove and have met the daily goals, it’s now time to set a realistic goal for the year.  You may or may not ever meet the year end goal, but it’s all about the steps or the process that we take in our attempt that cause us to change.  That’s what I want you all to focus on this year.  So what if you never get there all the way, you’re certainly moving in the right direction. Be proud of what you are able to do this year and don’t beat yourself up for what you couldn’t do.

 

I hope you will be good to yourselves this year and finally work toward who you are meant to be.  I want you to remember it’s all here for you; all you have to do is believe in yourself and go get what you deserve.

 

So, I dedicate this to all of you in hope that this will be a magical year. I wish for all of you to get out there and find all the greatness that exists in you and our very wonderful world.  It all starts by believing in yourself.

 

I believe in all of you, and want you to be the very best you can be!

Did You Know?

By K.P. Sander

Did-You-KnowHappy New Year! Did you know that the very first time the New Year was celebrated on January 1st, was in Rome in 153 B.C. The month of January did not even exist until around 700 B.C., when the second king of Rome, Numa Pontilius, added the months of January and February to the annual calendar.

Around the world, different countries celebrate New Year’s Eve in their own particular manner, with social gatherings, eating, drinking alcoholic beverages, some sort of fireworks display…and the “countdown”. In some U.S. cities, you can still hear firecrackers popping and the banging of pots and pans – a celebration of the 50s and 60s – in nostalgic fashion.

Perhaps the most popular celebration comes from New York City; it is watched via television the world over. The very first New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square was in 1903. According to Wikipedia, Adolph Ochs, the owner of the New York Times, decided to celebrate the opening of his new headquarters, located at One Times Square, with a fireworks show displayed from the roof of the building.   Nearly 200,000 people attended the event.

Wanting to improve upon the spectacle each year, Ochs had one of his electricians design an electrically lit time ball to draw more attention. The ball was made of wood and iron and weighed 700 pounds. Approximately 5 feet in diameter, the ball was lit with one hundred incandescent bulbs and hoisted on the building’s flagpole by a team of six men. As the ball dropped, it completed an electrical circuit to a large sign indicating the New Year. That first “ball drop” occurred on Dec. 31, 1907 – welcoming in 1908 – and it has been a tradition ever since.

The New Year is a brand new beginning, a fresh start; a time for resolutions – often overstatements of intent – to change behaviors and start anew. What did you resolve to change on New Year’s Eve? Some say the very best resolution – and the one most frequently found successful – is the resolve to implement no more New Year’s Resolutions. Whatever your traditions, here’s hoping that your New Year is full of blessings and joy.

 

 

A Decade Behind Us

BY JENNIFER MADRIGAL

January marks the beginning of a new year and a new month, a chance to start over anew. In our home, January is a month full of birthdays with the most important one belonging to the youngest boy, Nicholas. This year, my son Nicholas will reach another milestone; he will finally belong to the “two-hands” club and turn 10! I remember my grandpa joking with me when I turned ten and telling me that I was part of an exclusive club of “two handers” and that this was the first and last year that I would ever be able to count my age on just two hands. Back then, that seemed like a pretty awesome club to be a part of and it’s a little surreal that my youngest child is now ten and on his way to his next decade.
But turning 10 for Nicholas is just a little bit more special to me because the road we have traveled has been such a tumultuous one. If you read this column regularly you know I speak about my boys often and that my youngest Nicholas, is deaf and autistic, visually impaired, low tone Cerebral Palsy, etc. etc. but that this boy has the spirit of an angel and the tenacity of a lion. There is truly nothing that I would say he can’t do. He may not be able to do it now, but he always manages to figure things out and surprise us all with just how dang smart he is.
This first decade of his life, we spent so much time getting him to sit up, crawl, walk, eat on his own, wear his glasses, wear his hearing aides, cochlear implant surgery, physical and occupational therapy, potty training, writing and so on and so on. We just wanted to give him the best shot we could to be as “normal” as possible. What I never expected was that not only would he far surpass all those basic goals but that he would also learn to read, write, add and subtract and basically rock at school. Further, this year I experienced with Nicholas the absolute best gift any mother could receive, Nicholas said “mom” for the very first time. That small little “deaf” voice clearly and slowly watching my lips form the word and along with me, clear as day, say “MOM”. As always, my son remains my biggest inspiration and deepest source of strength. Anytime I feel that I can’t do something, I remember all the doctors that shook their heads and told me to give up and to not expect much from Nicholas, and then I get back up, shake myself off and get back to being awesome…because Nicholas and I still have a lot of people to keep proving wrong.