“New beginnings
are often disguised
as painful endings.”
~ Lau Tzu

There’s something about the last day of each calendar year that brings up a feeling of melancholy in me. It’s not so much a gloomy state of mind. It’s more of an experience of sober pensiveness or contemplation. On this day each year, before I fully embrace the possibilities of the new year, I find myself reflecting back on the previous twelve months. There are times when doing this is a pleasant experience. At other times, however, I find it difficult to let go of the year which is ending.

There were certainly some highlights in 2024 — a brief visit to Palm Desert, California and visits with friends there; the birth of my grandson, Henry; a few more social gatherings of some of my elementary school classmates; countless breakfast, lunch, and dinner engagements with friends and family; the publication of two more books on the topic of gratitude; a get-away to Ojai, California with Kathy; numerous visits to the downtown Campbell farmers market; a few days in Los Angeles to visit with my brother, Tom, at Loyola Marymount University; a riverboat cruise on the Colombia and Snake Rivers with Kathy to celebrate our 39th wedding anniversary; attending a few Giants’ baseball games at Oracle Park; several speaking engagements on the topic of gratitude; and increasing my daily walking, resulting in an average of more than 5,000 steps per day throughout 2024. In many ways, it’s been a good year.

Like all years, however, there were some difficult times. I attended four funerals in 2024 — two for family members and two for friends (one was an elementary school classmate.) I guess it shouldn’t be surprising that the older I get, the more funerals I attend.

Fortunately, these losses, and a few other challenges with which I was confronted this past year, were outnumbered by the good experiences and opportunities I enjoyed.

Perhaps the most significant change in my life in 2024 has been as a result of my decision to delete my social media accounts in late January. While this decision has resulted in the loss of contact with a number of people with whom I would like to stay connected, the positive results of this decision have been overwhelming. It’s amazing how much more time I have in my day, every day, as a result of deleting my Facebook account. I was also able to escape the online vitriol and negativity associated with the 2024 presidential election. I am grateful to have made this change in my life.

Kathy and I just returned home from a delightful New Year’s Eve dinner at a local restaurant with our son, Brendan. After posting this blog piece, I’ll head over to our local Paris Baguette Bakery where, each night at 9:00, I pick up all the pastries and breads that were not sold today. In late June, it came to my attention that all the unsold items were being tossed in the trash at closing time. I asked if it might be possible for me to stop by each night, pick them up, and deliver them to organizations that could use them. I’ve done this just about every night for the past five months. I take the products to places like the Cypress Senior Center, Morning Star Memory Care, Mission City Skilled Nursing, Villa Fontana Senior Living Community, and a number of other locations. It’s nice to know that these food items are not going to waste.

Yes, New Year’s Eve can be bittersweet, yet my overall feeling as I reflect back on the past twelve months is that of genuine gratitude.