By James B. Ewers Jr. Ed.D.
The year 2024 is gone. We can’t look back. We can only look ahead to new beginnings. Lamenting about the past prevents us from thinking about the possibilities of the future. So, let’s not babble about “could have, should have, and would have.”
To start the year 2025, we had black-eyed peas and collard greens. That is the traditional dish of African Americans.
A direct quote from a report states, “The tradition of eating black-eyed peas and collard greens on New Year’s Day is a deeply rooted African American custom where the peas symbolize coins (representing good luck) and the greens symbolize paper money (representing prosperity) for the coming year; essentially signifying a wish for wealth and abundance in the new year.”
We had our share of black-eyed peas, collard greens and cornbread so the traditional foundation was set.
While we honor this tradition, we know there is a God who sits high and looks low who will order our steps.
I suspect many people made New Year’s resolutions that were personal to them. Since I am a 4th quarter guy trying to get to overtime, I live in thanksgiving. I am grateful that He has allowed me to still be here in my right mind with a portion of health and strength.
As I was coming of age in Winston-Salem NC, I would hear older men and women say, “I’m still in my right mind.”
Being young and immature, I wondered was there another mind other than your right mind?
Over the course of my life, I have come to understand completely what that expression means.
I am blessed to still be clear in my thinking and discernment. I can still be in the public square and have a voice with opinions.
If you are in that same crowd, be thankful and know that favor has been given to your life.
We age yet we can’t be held hostage by aging. We forget sometimes yet we remember most of the time.
Our aches are a little more, yet we keep moving albeit at a slower pace.
Mental acuity, diet and exercise are all important as we continue in this new year. Put those topics on your to-do list.
Being in the first month of the year makes me ponder about what will be.
My eternal optimism makes me want to believe that we can be better than we were last year.
Plainly stated, goodness, joy and happiness can be achieved if we want it.
Let’s begin 2025 with more joy and happiness in our homes. Meanness and mayhem should not rule and ruin our lives.
The way we treat each other at home is an indicator of how we treat each other outside. Our attitudes and dispositions follow us.
Stop the violence. Sadly, in many instances it was us against us last year. It was us losing our composure and having no patience.
The blame and shame were on us. Let us close that chapter so that we can strive and thrive in 2025.
Getting involved in our communities will be important this year. Clubs, organizations and agencies need our support. Volunteering is the hallmark of civic and cultural engagement.
National Volunteer Week will be celebrated April 20-26. It is important that we give back to our communities.
I can recall many years ago taking my sons, Aaron and Chris with me to volunteer at an American Red Cross event. It is never too early or too late to start volunteering.
During Christmas, I watched the 1984 movie, A Christmas Carol starring George C. Scott.
He played Ebenezer Scrooge, an unscrupulous businessman. It took some ghosts for him to turn his life around so that it could have meaning and purpose.
Maybe there will be some people that we know who will have the same ghostly transformation.
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