It is New Year’s Eve tonight. In just over two hours, it will be a new decade. It has been twenty years since we experienced the angst-causing panic of Y2K. There have been a plethora of changes in the last twenty years, since we changed not just decades, but centuries. In some ways, our world is almost unrecognizable.
Twenty years, I did not own a cell phone, and neither did my students. There was no need for a “cell phone policy” in my classroom. We all used straws without giving it a second thought. Climate change was called global warming, and was not preached about on the daily news. We had not yet experienced 9-11 and global conflicts were rarely brought local. Airports were relaxed places without strict rules and protocals.
1999 does not seem that long ago but I guess it was. I don’t feel that much older, but I guess I am. In 1999, I had no nieces, no husband, no stepsons. I did not own a dog, a cat or a house. I lived by leases instead of mortgages, and made plans for the next evening, not the next year. A lot has changed, but a lot has stayed the same. I am still me … more me than I was then. The older I get, the less I feel the need to hide who I really am from the world.
So many I loved then have left the earth, but they have never left my heart. My Mom is still as much a part of my life as she was then, just in a different way. I think about her almost every day.
Twenty Years From Now
Twenty years from now, I am sure, will come soon enough. It seems like an eternity away but when it comes, I am sure I will feel it was only a short time ago. What will we do with the next twenty years? That will be decided each day, as days pile up into years and then into decades. All we really have is a day. All we ever have is now.
Christians believe in a God who is always present. In Scriptures, the LORD Jesus Christ calls himself, “I Am,” very close to the name that Father God gives himself when he talks to Moses in the burning bush. “I Am” indicates that God wants us to be in the present tense with him — not worrying about the future or lamenting the past. He only gives us now.
My New Year’s Goal
What is my New Year’s Goal for 2020? To live more in the now. With my husband. With everyone in my life that I love. Most of all, to spend more time praying and meditating on Scripture — more time with the one who made time.
What are the obstacles to me doing that? My biggest obstacle is me. I love getting lost in the computer — writing, watching Netflix, pursuing abstract ideas, dreaming on Pinterest. 2020 seems to offer far more interesting, and tempting distractions. Living online, though, is an illusion. Friends online are wonderful but not if the ones in our homes are ignored. Business on the internet has potential but it is not worth forgetting the business that needs done around us.
How do you feel you are doing about living in the now? Have you felt distracted by the constant pull of technology and the pressure to always be online? What are your goals for this year, if any? And a very Happy New Year, by the way!
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