It's a new year

I'm not sure how I feel about 2006.
I haven't taken the protective cover off it yet. It's still in bubble wrap in the box. Too soon to pull it out and take a good look.
It's still squeaky clean - a white board with no markings.
I put my new calendar on the wall in the kitchen and started marking some of the important dates. I did the same at work. On the one hand, it feels good to be organized. On the other hand, when the square start to fill with meetings and appointments, it starts to look like 2006 is going to be another 2005.
When you are a kid and you hear adults talk about how fast the years go by, it sounds like a dumb thing to say. Back then it felt like at least two years between birthdays and maybe three before Christmas ever came again.
And the summers. Oh the summers were deliciously long. The days seemed to last forever - playing outside until the sun went behind the mountains and the lightning bugs came out to wink good night to us.
So I'm thinking maybe I need to adopt a more youthful approach to my days. To squeeze as much out of each day as possible with as much enthusiasm as possible.
At the end of the church service this morning we sang "This Little Light of Mine." It was an uplifting experience as we actually clapped hands while we sang. We don't do that in church very often. We're Methodists. We take church seriously - especially on Communion Sunday.
Our pastor has been trying for about a year to get us to shout Amen now and again. Every now and then someone gets bold and does it, but we are a quiet bunch during the preaching hour.
What was I talking about? Oh, light. This little light of mine. I'm going to let it shine.
I don't make resolutions because it is like asking my dogs not to pee on the bushes out front - as soon as you turn your back, the legs come up.
So let's say I am meditating on a way to make this year turn out better than last year and my decision is to let the light shine on me and reflect that light to others as best I can.
Maybe by adopting this attitude, I can create a more shiny 2006.
"Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine..."