Here it is—-2024!  So, now what?

It’s a given that all of the broken pieces from last year haven’t gone away. They are still waiting to be put back together again. That’s a bit overwhelming.  However, there is still much to be grateful for.

For instance, if you are reading this column, you have lived to see another day. It’s an opportunity to enjoy the love of friends and family—Well, maybe not all of  your family members who are still knocking about, but then life has never been perfect. The good old days are nothing but selective memory. However, choosing to remember the good times is probably very healthy.  Love and friendship, and the joy of living, never go out of style, and laugher is a life force.

It’s a given that no one has led a charmed life, and today is a good time to take measure.  Obviously, all of us have survived the bad days, and have been able to recharge enough to go on with whatever challenges we meet. It’s good advice to try to live one day at a time with gratitude for having made it this far relatively intact—even though sometimes it seems as if the scale of life is heavily weighted in the wrong direction.

In Greek mythology, Pandora was ordered never to open a box which had been left in  her care by Zeus, King of the Gods. However, her curiosity and dealing with the unknown got the best of her.  She opened the box and released all of the evils of mankind—war, pestilence, anger, jealousy and many other unspecified evils which were released into the world.

Desperately, she tried to shut the lid, but it was too late except she did manage to stop the last
small glimmer of a thing that shone in the box .  It was HOPE!

Pandora did not lose hope and neither should we.  So, in 2024 let’s hang on to hope for better times to come.

I wish for all of you the best of health, the best of times and a measure of tranquility and peace.

Esther Blumenfeld