“The Times They Are A-Changin”….B.Dylan

This year looks a lot like last year. Good things and bad things happen all year long but because some happen around The Holidays we tend to remember them as more impactful. They are just as important if they occurred in August or May but we remember them because they happened during other events of importance. So we set about making resolutions for what we intend to do for the next 12 months or we hope for a better twelve months however you wish to define better. What is on display at the House of Representatives is a pretty good indication that this year will look a lot like what our elected representatives have provided for us ever since Republicans decided that governance was a thing of the past. Perhaps you like to listen to the climate deniers who believe that the recent rains in California are a true indication that global warming is a conspiratorial theory promoted by the liberal media. Maybe you think that Fox News decided to become an actual news organization rather than a propaganda machine for the MAGA right.

I just do not think this year holds any more promise for the future than last January or the one before that or the one…… It seems to me that we set our sights too high or we expect too much from the mere turning of the calendar from 2022 to 2023. I would be happier if we could lower the rhetoric and the expectation. I had coffee the other day with a friend. We sat outside and for every person that walked by he told them what a nice smile they had. If they were not smiling it made them and if they were it made the smile bigger. This simple act of human acknowledgment changed the atmosphere and I believe changed the day ahead for these people who were lucky enough to be walking by that morning. For the days ahead full of the same disappointments I would suggest that we stop thinking that a fantasy would happen to change our cumulative lives. For a better January and February and all the others I suggest you smile more —- share your smile willingly —— most important tell someone they have a beautiful smile and see where that takes you in 2023.

Nice smile!!!!