Reflections by Phil Ellenberger

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Posted by Joyce Rhyne on 14 Jan 16 - Comments Off on Reflections by Phil Ellenberger

The year is new. The frantic holiday season and, in fact, the entire past year is now in the past. The year just ended is now only a memory. For some of us the memories might be happy ones, others sad. It seems that the media, both digital and print, always want to hold reflections on what happened during the year past.

Then, of course, there are those who begin to think about what resolutions we need to make for the New Year. If one follows the late night shows, those comedians have had a very good time making jokes about those who resolve to do better in some way during this year.

Most of us, if we resolve at all, make one about losing weight or eating more healthily. One of those late night guys had a very good joke about losing weight. He was either going to lose the weight or rig his scale so it showed that he lost weight. He was not going to bust his resolution. It seems that most who resolve fail to carry the intention through to success. That is a shame.

It seems to me that there is one automatic resolution that we all follow and most of us make it through. It really isn’t a resolution that is renewed from year to year it is just demanded of by life.

The most colorful representation of that is a modification of the British (UK) maxim from Winston Churchill is “KBO”. A translation of that acronym is Keep Buggering On. When you think about it that is what we do all the time. One just doesn’t have an alternative, does one?

When we are young we bugger through the growing pains and diapers and such. Then we have to make it somehow through the school years. Then there is either the college or work and we have to bugger through all of that stuff. Some are either very lucky or very dedicated and make some sort of success in that period.

Most of us bugger through marriage and raising a family and helping the next generation through the same set of cycles. Then we grow into the “Golden years”.

For many, we begin to realize the old saying that all that glitters is not gold could be rephrased to ‘all the gold doesn’t really glitter.’ People, as well as things, that are used tend to deteriorate. Hoorah for those whose deterioration is not as rapid or as much as some others. We all lose a little edge and bounce.

All of this is to say each day is the first day of another year and yesterday was the last day of the past year. We tend to note years by the calendar which fixes the first of a year as one day, but really that isn’t so. It is the convention and even the calendar leap around a little 2016 is one of those leaping years. So my advice is to KBO.

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