Stepping into a new year, I’ve reflected on my failings and successes in the last, feeling a renewed sense of purpose and resolve, striving to stay the course, embrace the obstacles that life offers up, and keep my eye on the horizon. Placing one foot in front of the other, my goal, both long and short, has been to contribute something useful in society, and to those around me. My hope and plan are the same in 2025, perhaps with a renewed sense of determination as I’ve had a deepening wisdom with age, that our time is limited, so we better get on with it.
Some famous words of George Bernard Shaw resonate more and more with me; “This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. Being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it what I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations” (George Bernard Shaw, 1856 – 1950).