The beginning of a new year is an opportunity to start again; of rising and falling again; of crying and laughing; to fear and to risk… to live. A new year begins that will bring with it many good things, but at the same time situations that will require our effort to be able to overcome ourselves and move forward. And although we would all like only good things to happen to us in 2024, we have to be aware that like every year, this year will bring challenges that will help us be better and grow. Therefore, the ideal is to focus on each goal that we set and overcome in the best possible way each obstacle that comes our way, and welcome the stage that has just begun with optimism and hope. Happy start to the year.
ABOUT THE year that has just begun, I give you some motivating phrases to reflect on: We will open the book. Its pages are blank. Let’s put words about themselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day. (Edith Lovejoy Pierce)… Dear world, I am excited to be alive in you, and I am grateful for another year. (Charlotte Eriksson)… You can get excited about the future. The past won’t care. (Hillary DePiano)… Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right. (Oprah Winfrey)… I hope that this year you make mistakes, because making mistakes means doing new things, learning, living and changing the world. (Neil Gaiman)… Tomorrow will be the first blank page of a book with 365 pages. Write a good story. (Brad Paisley)… The bad news is that time flies. The good news is that you are the pilot. (Michael Altshuler)…
ON OCCASIONS WE TRY We treat the elderly with contempt, we ignore them and we do not attend to their needs, we do not give them the love and attention they deserve, and much less, we spend time listening to them and pampering them a little as they did with us. When we are young, we forget that one day we will be like them, that is why today I say goodbye to the section with fragments of this beautiful poem by Mario Benedetti dedicated to older adults: There are no old people here, the afternoon simply arrived: Third age!/What a nice phrase!/There are no old people here/it’s just that the afternoon has arrived:/an afternoon full of experience/experience to give advice./
There are no old people here, / it’s just that the afternoon has arrived.
Old is the sea and it grows larger,/ old is the Sun and it warms us,/ old is the Moon and it illuminates us,/ old is the Earth and it gives us life,/old is love and it encourages us./ (…)/ We climb the tree of life/we cut the best of its fruits/they are those fruits/our children/that we care for with patience,/that patience returns to us with love. (…)/ Young man: if in your walk/ you find beings who walk slowly/ with serene and loving gaze/ with rough skin, with trembling hands,/ do not ignore them, help them,/ protect them, protect them./ Give them your helping hand/ your affection. / Keep in mind that one day / evening will come to you too.
