Fresh start?

It would be nice if we really did start the new year off with a clean slate. No regrets, no old resentments festering away, nothing to apologize for, no debts to pay, social or otherwise. If we could concentrate on the resolutions we (perhaps) made, lay out a game plan for tackling them. Heck, I'd be happy to start 2005 without a hangover (from sleeping pills). Instead we have to just muddle along, trying to smooth our path thru life without making anyone else's too rocky as a result.

I wish there really was an afterlife, where we'd get to see again all those folks who have died and left us bereft. Where we would grasp some Cosmic Purpose in all the evil and suffering we've seen, where the Meek would actually inherit the earth, and the Good would get their just reward. Maybe all the socks would finally emerge from whatever black hole they fall into, and match. Maybe the appliance would last past the warranty period, we'd never need to find that lost proof-of-purchase, clothes wouldn't shrink the first time they are washed. We could eat whatever we liked and never gain an ounce, and everything good for us would taste good too. All our pets would live active and healthy and as long as we do, and no one would abuse them or neglect them. All the kids would be funny, and a pleasure to be around, where no one had to nag about the homework, the trash, their clothes, their music, and they would find their parents at least as interesting as the family pet. No gut-wrenching phone calls in the middle of the night, no meetings with the principal or the probation officer, no "too late" and "I'm sorry" that never make things right again. The list could go on and on.....

But when all is said and done, here we are in our imperfect world, snatching happiness on the fly and hoping for the best. We'll have awesome sunrises and thunderous storms that will make us be glad for shelter, and we'll try to make sure everyone else has shelter too. And it won't be enough, and kids will still go to bed with no beds, no food, cold, hungry and abused by people who should love them. The veterans will return, damaged in soul if not also in body, and be met by indifference from the public who have moved on to today's new crisis. And it will all seem so unfair. And it is unfair, and we'll try to fix it. One day at a time. One person at a time.