Happy New Year 2019!

Highlight of 2018? One of which is that I have FOUR holidays this year with my family. The main ones are captured below (Singapore in Aug and Melbourne in Dec arranged chronologically).

Typical New Year Greetings

Last week, my mobile (small memory space by default) was jammed with Christmas greeting videos and I had to free it up on Christmas day. This morning, the same thing happened with New Year greeting videos. As I was clearing the videos, a particular one caught my attention.

It wishes people this:

12 months of success

52 weeks of laughter

365 days of fun

8,760 hours of joy

525,600 mins of good luck

31,536,000 secs of happiness

Well, that’s not going to happen in 2019.

Nor 2020, 2021, nor until the year you hit the coffin. We know that, but we go on wishing all sorts of improbable things for our family / friends for the new year. That is alright in a sense, but it may be good to try not to be so ridiculous that the wishes become altogether meaningless (the above is one I think is!).

Firstly, of course, it is just a wish – these kinds of wishes fly around the social media while people don’t think much about it. Just like Australians saying to each other, ‘Hello, how are you? Good thanks.’ Not meant to carry much message in the real meaning of the words. Just like we often dismiss the ‘Hello how are you fine thanks’ as soon as it escapes our lips, we likely don’t think about the New Year wishes any later than 2nd Jan. And that is good, to forget the nonsense. However, sometimes there are messages in some motivational videos that people use as guidance for a long time. And that is bad, as they are more delusional than motivational, pulling you in the opposite direction to relating rightly to reality.

Secondly, it actually reveals the desires of the human heart. Of course it is just a wish, and will remain so because it will never be in this life! Wish it every year if you’d like, but what do we know for certain? You wait long long. For such things simply don’t exist. It doesn’t take long for the mood to settle back into everyday reality – by end of the week?

Another thought is: if my year is characterised by anything close to 12 months of success and 500k mins of good luck, what kind of person would I be? I imagine I would be an insufferable, proud fool who thinks she can conquer the world. Even without 52 weeks of laughter, sometimes I already see the tendency in me to be proud (even with just 1 single day of success). Thank God He doesn’t give me 365 days of fun! It would otherwise be very hard to sympathise with people who have it tough in life, like those without family / friends at this time of the year.

Alternate New Year Greetings

However, there are also some good clips that consume my device’s memory space. An example is this one that I saw on Facebook for Christmas.

The fact is we don’t know what 2019 brings. A recent talk reminded me that you can never imagine the kind of life you end up living now (think back at the time when you were a child). Not even decades back, I need to just look at a year ago, I wouldn’t have guessed many of the experiences and days of my life in 2018. I personally think instead of messages that make me dance in the la-la land, messages that encourage and also help sober me up are good ways to usher into the new year.

So I approach 2019 knowing another new year I have no clue about has arrived, may be good or bad (often a combination to different degrees). I don’t know, but God does and He is my Father who is loving, wise, and sovereign. With His help, I hope to grow in knowing Him more (and that enables me to know myself better in relation to the absolute reference) and loving Him more (and that would flow out naturally in me loving others around me).

As a Christian, I live with the hope I have in Christ. For I know there will indeed come a time every human heart desires: no more tears and sorrows, love that never parts, perfect justice, death defeated, overflowing joy and peace – not 31 mill secs of happiness as in the silly clip, in fact no need to count time anymore, because it is forever and ever.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.

Revelation 21:4 ESV

Into the New Year

A good friend went into the city last night as she likes to take photos of the fireworks. On the other hand, I spent the night getting some errands done before the new year comes. Then I had some time to sit, pause, and reflect.

When the hour hit 00:00, I was laying on the couch in my quiet dark living room, still awake, hearing faint sounds of fireworks – but couldn’t see them, may be I’ll see them from my friend’s photos later! – looking at a particular star in the sky with my sleepy eyes (yes they’re visible!) and think, ‘How far is that star and what does it look like exactly?’

I don’t know how far, I don’t know what it looks like or what it is made of exactly. But it does what it should do, to remind me of how small I am and how big my God is.

So I remind myself this year, as in every year:

Your life is short, your duties many, your assistance great, and your reward sure; 
therefore faint not, hold on and hold up, in ways of well-doing, and heaven shall make amends for all.

Thomas Brooks

Happy New Year all! 🙂