Happy New Year Essay

Time moves forward, and only forward. It’s a circle – we are born, raised, we live, then we die. But have you ever imagined what would happen if you were endowed with immortality? What if you could not die no matter how many decades had passed, while the world around you keeps changing and everyone else keeps aging? Would it be wonderful to live forever like that? Then you should take a look at Tuck Everlasting, a novel written by Natalie Babbitt in 1975 which focuses on the negative side of immortality.

The notion that time will always continue to march forth can be likened to a small and bitter pill:; seemingly plain and amusingly easy to conquer when laid out, yet in actuality shockingly difficult to swallow. Every minute, every hour, every day is insignificant when contrasted against the length of our lives yet we are so wrapped up in our egos that we are too stubborn to accept that, preferring to immerse ourselves in fanciful fantasies of “what if?” in an effort to relive the past rather than look towards the future. Flashes of nostalgia strike us when we come across an old flame or the setting of a fond memory, and we often try to recreate those memories and joy once felt without any consideration for the person we have matured into.

How are the main characters in a play constructed to represent the text’s underlying values and attitudes?

passing of time in life. Every time the clock strikes the hour, the musicians quit playing

Nowadays, it seems that we are too busy making a living that we tend to forget how to make a meaningful life. We are all dreaming of some magical things will happen instead of enjoying a beautiful little thing happens around us. The main thing is we don’t know if we will wake up tomorrow when we go to sleep tonight. Therefore, rather than hardly put off a living, reminds ourselves to enjoy every minute of our live as if it is the last minute. Denise Levertov, the author of the poem “Living”, illustrates the philosophy of living a simple life is to live entirely in the present without thinking about what will happen next in the future. The reason for that philosophy is because happiness is not what you have but how you feel toward what you have and how you accept it.

In sum, life is supposed to be about more than happiness. We are supposed to do something important, adhere to some ethic, and serve a greater good. We live for a goal, a principle, or a destiny—not just for pleasure.1

As a result of society’s pursuit of extrinsic happiness, society is left feeling unfulfilled and lacking intrinsic happiness; Jones argues that because of our everyday routine we are not taking the time to properly think about the impact we are having on our intrinsic happiness while Kohn argues that students’ preoccupation with preparation for their post-secondary education is not allowing them time to reflect on their intrinsic happiness. In the pursuit of extrinsic motivators, society often ignores what gives them intrinsic fulfillment; it may be because of one’s school schedule - and their obsession with preparing for life - or society’s busy work schedule that contributes to this. In How not to get into college, Kohn explains that students are “ignoring- or perhaps, by now, even forgetting- what they enjoyed doing” (Kohn 7), while this is happening Jones states that their parents are ”Killing the overtime ‘cause the dream is [their] life, refusing to take holidays or go home to [their] spouse”(53-54). Jones and Kohn argue that society is ignoring their intrinsic happiness

Susan Wolf addresses these questions an aim to bring out the distinctive characteristics of the reasons and motives that give our lives meaning. Wolf claims that "meaningful lives are laws of active engagement and projects of worth" (Wolf, 206). Suggesting that when a person is actively engaged in anything they feel alive and life is more worth living. Nevertheless, Wolf explains that neither religion or science is sufficient for leading a meaningful life, claiming that a life of passion could corrupt the pursuit of happiness if you decide to dedicate your life to how you feel. Suggesting that working toward some goal that is substantial than yourself, can be hard work if you don 't have any passion or connection to it. According to Wolf, the subjective element is necessary for a meaningful life and arises from active engagement in some activity that one loves. In addition, the passive attachment to objectively valuable things are not sufficient for meaning. The feeling of fulfillment originates when “one is doing what one loves, or when one is engaging in activities by which one is gripped or excited” (Wolf, 207).

I pray all had a most blessed Christmas and the council extends the best to you and your family for a most joyous new year.

In a few days, this year will end and a new year begins! Wonderful, it's time to unwind.

As quoted by Csikszentmihalyi that “people often end up feeling that their lives have been wasted, and instead of being filled with happiness their years were spent in anxiety and boredom” (608). He added that despite the comfort of today’s modern living; the contentment does not seem to apply in

Most of us live our life without truly living. We follow the path handed down from generations of social conformity. We are taught to aspire to a marriage, house full of descendants, and stable job that supports the aforementioned. Besides the majority leading a constraining lifestyle, there are few who sincerely enjoy their lives and celebrate their individuality. The renowned psychologist Abraham Maslow discusses that people live a fulfilling life because of self-actualization in his study “Self-Actualization and Beyond” in 1967. He notes that with self-awareness, a person “comes to know what [their] destiny is, who [their] wife or husband will be, what [their] mission in life will be” (Maslow 440). In the cases of those who aren’t aware

In an ironic way, the optimism of the vast majority is the greatest inhibitor of satisfaction. Both the future and the past are born of the present mind; the now is interminable. For some reason, humanity seems to possess an unwavering insistence on running, so to speak, to an illusory end that is really nothing more than a product of momentary dissatisfaction.

“For we may be said to desire all things as means to something else except indeed happiness, as happiness is the end or perfect state” (page 230, Mayfield). As Aristotle said that our ultimate goal is happiness but in order to reach happiness you have to succeed. “Relaxation then is not an end. We enjoy it as a means to activity; but it seems that the happy life is a life of virtue, and such a life is serious, it is not one of mere amusement. We speak of serious things too as better than things which are ridiculous and amusing, and of the activity of

The New Year is upon us once again, ready or not. This holiday seems to me the one that provokes the most thought and reflection, which is a good thing really. We all need to assess where we are in our journey of life and make adjustments. For the Christian, this is especially important. Ephesians 5:1-2 reminds us to "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." The past year has been a great learning year for me in the area of relationships. I 've learned a lot about myself, others, and especially about how much God loves ME! Some of what I learned was very disappointing as I saw so much selfishness in relationships. I know that I am guilty of it too sometimes, but I just recognized it more, and saw the repercussions many times. Those consequences are painful and the effects are trickle-down. It has made me really think about Love a lot more and how Love as God intended it to be should be evident in our lives ALWAYS, and not just when it 's convenient for us. God spoke to me about His Love through my dog, Tracker. Yep, this is the Tracker story that I 've been meaning to put out there. This isn 't exactly how I thought I 'd convey it to everyone but as time has passed and I think about it even more, I know without a doubt that the truth that God impressed upon me that night is what is most important about the story. Tracker is an