The Calendar

Every year as the year draws to a close, I look forward to getting new calendars.

As an avid photographer, I make two wall calendars for myself, with each page featuring a full color image that I have taken during my travels that year. I also order a desk calendar with a photo for each week. The desk calendar is purchased commercially. I use it to keep track of my walking and hiking.

So as I approach the end of each year, I start to wonder how I will fill in my calendar in the coming year. If I’m lucky, as I have been each year except for the horrible pandemic year of 2020, I will mark down all of my trips. I will also enter less exciting things such as doctor appointments, veterinary appointments, appointments to have the furnace checked out, etc. All in all, each calendar provides a snapshot of the highlights and, let’s face it, the lowlights of the year coming to a close.

It's always interesting to look back on the year's calendar and remember things I might have forgotten. As I grow older, I have become more aware of the passage of time and the fact that I have more years behind me than ahead of me. 

I have already started to fill in appointments and trips for 2022. And as always, I am hopeful that the year ahead will be filled with lots of good things and wonderful experiences.

The calendar starts out as a blank slate, and while I can record some upcoming events, the pages remain largely empty. The year has yet to reveal itself and what things and opportunities it will bring. Undoubtedly there will also be some unwanted events along the way.

We cannot control the passage of time, no matter how much we may wish to do so. We cannot control or foresee all the things that will happen to us and for us in the year ahead. 

But we can control our reaction to the events that will occur in our lives. 

My wish for you is that you will fill your calendar with good, with kindness, with positive opportunities. We can't know what we will be given each day, but we can determine to react in a positive way no matter what comes our way in 2002.

Wishing each of you a peaceful, prosperous, safe, fulfilling 2022.