Flames and Resolutions

Hello and Happy New Year!

Well, it is the 4th, so maybe the year is old already...? Our neighbors had a New Year's Eve dinner for 5 or 6 families close-by. This was the first time in years that I actually stayed up to watch the ball drop on t.v.!

(FLAMES.) Then of course the next-generation "Evel Knieval" (his son or something) did a motorcycle jump.



Through fire.

He kept on practicing, making us THINK he would do the jump, then... it would just be a practice round.

Then they had a video-game-like simulation, of the catastrophes that MIGHT happen..."If he doesn't make the jump," the announcer says dramatically, "he will crash into this wall!" And then you watch this video game guy crash into the wall. They were really stretching it to fill time.

Of course he jumped, and made it, and it lasted all of 5 seconds. No wonder they dragged it out. :)

(RESOLUTIONS)
January is often a time of resolutions for the coming year.

I have made the very same New Year's Resolution for the past 5 years or so. Just one word...it's easier to remember that way..."simplify."

It was reinforced by Henry David Thoreau, who spent 2 years living on Walden Pond. He recognized that when you get right down to it, your list of needs is very short.

Another reinforcement of this New Year's Resolution came from L. Tom Perry, whose wife was diagnosed with a terminal illness. They spent many quiet, conversational hours away from all the distractions of daily life.

A few months ago in an inspirational talk, he said, "In our search to obtain relief from the stresses of life, may we earnestly seek ways to simplify our lives."


So that is my resolution, the same New Year's Resolution I have made for the past few years. Maybe this year I can recognize and nurture the valuable people and relationships in my life a little more. Maybe I can pay a little LESS of my attention to the many daily details...ultimately, they just add up to a lot of noise.

Have a great week! Kari