Hey! It’s a new year!
Or is it?
We have all kinds of versions of time. We have lunar calendars, solar calendars, Julian calendars, Gregorian calendars, Judaic calendars, Islamic calendars, Chinese calendars, and, of course, the Mayan calendars—just to name a few.
So, what does 2018 mean?
Nothing.
Today, GPS satellites keep time on earth synchronized, but there’s nothing mystical, magical, or monumental about that. It’s more like the stacks of papers that I create when preparing to file my income tax paperwork. Just an attempt to make order out of chaos. It’s 2018, because we say it’s 2018.
Nevertheless, for a new year, or a new day, or a new moment—whatever your measure:
- Count your blessings.
- Help someone important to you.
- Help someone you don’t know (through a blood drive, a food pantry, or whatever).
- See yourself as an agent for changing things, no matter how tiny, for the better. Imagine if 1 percent of the 7.53 billion people on earth each made a 1 percent improvement. Wouldn’t that be a great start?
sfnowak 
A “wonder-filled” 2018 to YOU too, Steve. You’re the only person I know who can write about and speak to CHANGE–without ever mentioning the word. And in your very deep, subconscious, genius way of analogy–using stacks of paper to simplify the process of bringing order to chaos which usually goes over the head of the casual observer–you sort of say the two ironies of change are: 1) Fear of change; and 2) We ALL are expert at changing now because we’ve been changing and adapting to change all of our lives–since we were kids, to now as adults. As kids we change from one school to another, from a neighborhood, home and friends to others–and then as adults we move from one job to others, one position, income, city, fashion, and even one relationship to another, et al.
So I surmise this: The only fear is what we “think we know” about ourselves inside. Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) put it this way: “Aint nothing on our outside that can whip any of us, but there’s a whole bunch on our inside that can beat the best of us.” In other words our EVERYTHING (happiness, health and energy, personal and professional fulfillment, peace of mind–freedom from anger, guilt and fear–loving relationships, faith, trust and hope, high consideration for others, etc.) is an INSIDE JOB.