The Cat's Meow: New Year, Issue 1 Vol2, 01/02/03

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Welcome to 2003! Here at THE CAT'S MEOW, we are looking forward to the New Year. It is full of promise and possibility!!! We are rebuilding our website to serve you better. We'll be adding a new photo gallery (and you can send us your favorite pics to share with others), sometime during this month. Plans are also in the works to add an entertainment page with on-line comics, puzzles, and games suitable for all ages. Please let us know what else you'd like to see!

For some of us, it's time for New Year's Resolutions...those seemingly unkeepable promises we make to do the things we know we "ought" to do. Others will be taking stock of the lessons of the Old Year, gratefully examining their successes, and "making plans" to proceed with a course of action that will further those ends. Everyone, it seems, loves a new beginning! But, how did we get started on this crazy notion of "resolutions", anyway? And, what can we do that is more effective than "making resolutions"?

New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year. People in almost every country celebrate this day as a holiday. The celebrations are both festive and serious. Many people make New Year's resolutions to break bad habits or to start good ones. Some think about how they have lived during the past year and look forward to the next 12 months.

Many ancient peoples started the year at harvesttime. They performed rituals to do away with the past and purify themselves for the new year. For example, some people put out the fires they were using and started new ones. In early times, the ancient Romans gave each other New Year's gifts of branches from sacred trees. In later years, they gave gold-covered nuts or coins imprinted with pictures of Janus, the god of gates, doors, and beginnings. January was named after Janus, who had two faces--one looking forward and the other looking backward. The Romans also brought gifts to the emperor. The emperors eventually began to demand such gifts. But the Christian church outlawed this custom and certain other pagan New Year's practices in A.D. 567. The ancient Persians gave New Year's gifts of eggs, which symbolized productiveness. The Celtic priests of what is now England gave the people branches of mistletoe, which was considered sacred.

The Celts took over many New Year's customs from the Romans, who invaded the British Isles in A.D. 43. By the 1200's, English rulers had revived the Roman custom of asking their subjects for New Year's presents. Common presents included jewelry and gold. Queen Elizabeth I acquired a large collection of richly embroidered and jeweled gloves through this custom. English husbands gave their wives money on New Year's Day to buy pins and other articles. This custom disappeared in the 1800's. However, the term pin money still means small amounts of spending money.

Many American colonists in New England celebrated the new year by firing guns into the air and shouting. They also visited taverns and houses to ask for drinks. Other colonists attended church services. Some people held open house, welcoming all visitors and feeding them generously.

Another old custom involved using the Bible to predict what would happen in the new year. People chose a passage of the Bible at random. They then applied the passage to the coming months of the new year.

Modern customs on New Year's Day include visiting friends and relatives; giving gifts; attending religious services; and making noise with guns, horns, bells, and other devices. Children in Belgium write their parents New Year's messages on decorated paper. The children read the messages to their families on New Year's Day. The Chinese New Year begins between January 21 and February 19. The celebration lasts four days. On the last night, people dress as dragons to frighten and delight the children. In Japan, many people worship on New Year's Day.In the United States, many people go to New Year's Eve parties. Crowds gather in Times Square in New York City, on State Street in Chicago, and in other public places. At midnight, bells ring, sirens sound, firecrackers explode, and everyone shouts, "Happy New Year!" People also drink a toast to the new year and sing "Auld Lang Syne".

On New Year's Day, many people in the United States visit relatives, attend religious services, or watch football games on television. Some people attend parades, such as the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Calif., and the Mummers' Parade in Philadelphia.

It's that time of year again when we start talking and thinking about New Year's Resolutions even though they're old hat and we instinctively know they don't work. Because your friends, family and colleagues may chat about what Resolutions they're going to make, do you find yourself wondering whether to make any? We know that within a few days or weeks, the Resolutions will be forgotten, nothing will have changed and yet for some reason most people still worry about them. So why do we still bother with New Year's Resolutions? First, they're a custom and a New Year ushers in a new start, so what better time than now? There's even a small chance that we may stick to our Resolutions this year, so we have a go. The main reason some people think about New Year's Resolutions is because they want to change things in their life.

There's the usual New Year's Resolutions, such as I want to lose weight, change jobs, or earn more money but they tend to be the same ones you've had for years and they're still incomplete. These types of Resolutions are too vague. It's this vagueness, coupled with a lack of action which means that most people don't achieve their New Year's Resolutions. For Resolutions to work, they need to be well thought out and have real meaning. If not, they become a vague item on your "wish list" instead of actually doing something concrete about them.

The word resolution comes from 'resolve' and means to make up one's mind or decide firmly. Prior to New Years Day you may think of Resolutions you want to make and probably feel you've made up your mind, but what happens? Probably, very little or even nothing at all. Even though you know that Resolutions don't usually work, it seems that most us still want to make them. Perhaps that's because other people around you do it, so you feel you should follow suit because there are things in your life which you want to be different. The end of a year is a time for clearing out and completing things, to leave us with a clean slate ready to start a new year. There's something about a new year, a new beginning, and a fresh start which encourages us to make New Year's Resolutions. It's a powerful feeling to know you have a year ahead of you and you can choose what you do with it. It's a time for reflection about where you want to go next.

What about committing to New Year changes and actions, rather than Resolutions? The key to achieving what you really want in life and business is to take action to achieve those changes. It's the lack of action which stops us from having what we most want. What you want will be different for each individual and may include:

· More time in your personal life
· Less stress and more fun.
· Greater business and career success.
· Balance between work and home
· Altering your management or leadership style.

You may think I'm talking about life and business separately, yet they're inextricably linked. The key point is that you may want to focus on your professional life, yet this is directly related to your personal life.

Thinking about New Year's Resolutions may have made you aware that there are some changes you want to make. I encourage you to take steps on a consistent basis to make these changes, rather than vaguely tossing Resolutions around and not doing anything about them.

Take 12 fine, full-grown months; see that these are thoroughly cleansed from all old memories of bitterness, rancor, hate, and jealousy.

Cut these months into 30 or 31 equal parts. (This batch will keep for one year. Do not attempt to make more than one batch at a time-many people spoil the entire lot in this way.)

Prepare one day at a time as follows: Into each day, put 12 parts of faith, 11 of patience, 10 of courage, nine of work (some people omit this ingredient and spoil the flavor of the rest), eight of hope, seven of fidelity, six of open-mindedness, five of kindness, four of rest (leaving this out is like leaving the oil out of the salad-don't do it), three of prayer, two of meditation, and one of well-selected resolution.

If you have no conscientious scruples, add a teaspoonful of good spirits, a dash of fun, a pinch of folly, a sprinkling of play, and a heaping cupful of good humor.

Pour love liberally into the whole, and mix with vim. Cook thoroughly in a fervent heat. Garnish with a few smiles and a sprig of joy; then serve with quietness, unselfishness, and cheerfulness-and a Happy New Year is a certainty.

If We Tune In

If we tune-in on thoughts of failure, illness, discouragement, despair and hate, the charts of our lives will take a sharp downward course.

If we tune-in on thoughts of victory, love, hope and faith, our lives will become larger, finer, more worth while.

If we tune-in on the surface things that break like bubbles and leave us nothing, our lives will be shallow and empty.

If we tune-in on the deeper things, eternal principles of plain living and high thinking, the riches which men have put into immortal literature, art and music, then entire personalities will grow and expand.

If we permit ourselves to become selfish and cold toward others, the springs of love and sentiment will dry up leaving us but the husks of life.

If, on the other hand, we are kind and thoughtful and considerate of others; if we strive always to pluck a thorn and plant a flower wherever we think a flower will grow, riches more valuable than much fine gold will enter our lives.

Saint and sinner, prince and pauper, the things men tune-in on become a part of them and make them what they are.

~By Lilly Ames-Light~

Submitted By Harry Updegraff, Jr.

Here's a treasured New Year wish
sent specially to you.
I wish you joy beyond compare,
success in all you do

I wish you goals within your reach,
friendships true and strong.
I wish you gracious wisdom,
forgiveness when you're wrong

I wish you days of glorious peace,
nights of wondrous rest.
I wish you strength and courage,
persistence to be your best

But most of all I wish for you,
more love than most will find,
the grandest love in all the world,
the everlasting kind

Let this coming year be better than all the others. Vow to do some of the things you've always wanted to do but couldn't find the time.

Call up a forgotten friend. Drop an old grudge, and replace it with some pleasant memories. Share a funny story with someone whose sprits are dragging. A good laugh can be very good medicine.

Make a geniuine effor to stay in closer touch with family and good friends. Resolve to stop magnifying small problems and shooting from the lip. Words that you have to eat can be hard to digest.

Apologize when you realize you are wrong. An apology never diminishes a person. It elevates him. Don't blow your own horn. If you've done something praiseworthy, someone will notice eventually.

Try to understand a point of view that is different from your own. Few things are 100 percent one way or another. Examine the demands you make on others.

Lighten up. When you feel like blowing your top, ask yourself, "Will it matter in a week from today?". Laugh the loudest when the joke is on you.

The sure way to have a friend is to be one. We are all connected by our humanity, and we need each other. Avoid malcontents and pessimists. They drag you down and contribute nothing.

Don't discourage a beginner from trying something risky. Nothing ventured means nothing gained. Be optimistic. The can-do spirit is the fuel that makes things go.

Read someting uplifting. Deep-six the trash. You won't eat garbage - why put it in your head? Don't abandon your old-fashioned principles. They never go out of style. When courage is needed, ask yourself, "If not me, who? If not now, when?"

Walk tall, and smile more. You'll look 10 years younger. Don't be afraid to say, "I love you". Say it again. They are the sweetest words in the world.

Looking back, 2002 was a pretty good year. With help from a great many generous, good-hearted people (most of whom went FAR out of their way to do what was needed...quite often, without being asked!), THE CAT'S MEOW's website was established, and 6 issues of this newsletter were published. I must express my thanks, especially, to all my readers, to my mentor, Jay, to Donna Wallace, who has contributed so much to my research archive, to Shane Miles at Bright Byte, for all his help in setting up the site and formatting THE CAT'S MEOW, and to my dear love, Bob (who is last on my list, but first in my heart), for all the great suggestions and for listening to me kvetch, pontificate, and dream...and for ferreting out resources and goodies to make it all possible! THANKS, EVERYBODY!!!

We'll be back next week with another great issue of THE CAT'S MEOW...and updates on the new website features! Until then, THE CAT'S MEOW wishes you a joyous 2003!

The Cats Meow

If We Tune In