Of the 365 days on the calendar, three are more time oriented than the other 362. Two of them are associated with a specific hour in which the hours of clocks either spring forward or fall back 60 minutes. The third day is a festive occasion where people bid farewell to the year that was and celebrate the potential and promise of the year that will be.
Every year is like each day—there is a sunrise and a sunset to each one and the interluding period between the two is filled with joys and sorrows, rights and wrongs, and victories and failures.
As I write this, we are minutes away from the final sunset of 2020, and I’m reminded of Paul’s admonition to the church at Ephesus: “Don’t let the sun set on your anger.”
Several years ago, I read Forgive for Good: A Proven Prescription for Health and Happiness (Harper Collins 2002). After reading this book, I concluded: Smoldering anger and spiteful resentment will rob us of joyful contentment.
Fred Luskin, the author of the book, believes that carrying a grudge raises your blood pressure, depletes immune function, makes you more depressed and causes enormous physical stress to the whole body. Forgiveness interrupts this downward spiral by purging the toxic mixture of anger, bitterness, hatred, and resentment.
Since the health benefits of forgiving far outweigh the disadvantages of nursing a grudge, I encourage you enter 2021 with a spirit of forgiveness.
Like Bil Keane (Family Circus) has said: Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present.”
I encourage you to use the present to give the gift of forgiveness. The one who gives will be as blessed as the one who receives.
The older I get the more truth I find in an old cliché—Whatever gets your attention gets you. Some mornings, it’s my aches and pains that get my attention.
The health benefits of laughter were known centuries before recent studies discovered the connection between laughter and endorphins (indoor-fins).
Winston Churchill was right when he said, “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” For better or worse, your attitude has life-changing potential.
Are there times in your life when you can’t seem to shake the petty frustrations of the day, and you plop in your chair feeling beat-up, worn-down, and thoroughly annoyed?
When I was a kid, the most important meal of the day was supper. Mom was an excellent cook, and she worked hard to prepare the evening meal for our large family. Mom and Pop worked even harder at trying to steer their eight children in the right direction.
That people expend a great deal of energy in the quest for happiness should come as no surprise. After all, the Declaration of Independence states: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
Do you judge-mentally or are you judgmental? One is a well-reasoned response to a given situation, while the other is an irrational reaction. One investigates the specifics seeking the best outcome for everyone involved, while the other is condescending and self-serving in its handling of the facts.
As you live your life, do you project your true identity or are you living under the guise of an alias? Are you living your life as the real deal or a wannabe?
The trials and heartaches of life can leave you weary of life and tearful; and, wary of people and fearful. When God seems far away, remember you’re in 
insightbyseymour 