As the year passes away like a pestering guest we thought might never leave, we at last rejoice to find in the beckoning year a unblemished face, a virgin year untainted by the disappointments and despair which have so often haunted us. Now, we raise our glasses of whatever-it-was in the bottle, toasting them all away, and say with a hopeful air, "Maybe this year will be better than the last" (from Counting Crows' song "A Long December").
Have you ever wondered why so many people stuff the phrase "and a happy New Year" in with "Have a Merry Christmas"? Why can't we just take one holiday at a time? The truth is, we simply want to get it over with, much like the year. In fact, we are enthused, so excited, so ecstatic to have this bloody year over with, and the ringing of the bells signifies that at last, the time's irritating thorn is being extracted from our ribs. So I say, "Ring out, wild bells" (from Alfred Lord Tennyson's "Ring Out, Wild Bells") which "[bring] this cursed world closer to its end" (from Charles Dickens Nicholas Nickelby), on this night I will look forward in hope to the approaching future rather than dwell in past regret and disappointed dreams of the untouchable, immutable past.
May all of you do the same. Have a happy New Year full of friendship, resolve, patience, and peace of mind.
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