EVERY DAY IS NEW YEAR'S DAY

It's New Years Eve. The fireworks are coming out of their crates, getting ready to fly one time. The gin shots and champagne are icing down. The cabdrivers are getting ready, chanting their mantras. They'll have a nutritious dinner, a couple cans of Red Bull. Then they'll hit the streets, and they'll hit them hard. It's the big night, the one everyone looks forward to.

There's something about New Year's. That bad old year is ending. The bright, shiny new one is coming up. It's a fresh start. We can wipe the slate clean, start over. This time, we'll get it right. We all have our lists of New Year's resolutions. We're all going to lose weight, stop smoking, start working out, learn to play the guitar, learn quantum mechanics. Become enlightened. There's a sense of a new beginning, the idea that anything is possible. I like that idea. I want to believe.

I've got a few resolutions myself.

Really, it's always New Year's. You can always put aside the baggage from your past and start over. It's not easy, but it's there. Like they say, today is the first day of the rest of your life. This moment is the first moment of the rest of your life. And you can treat each moment that way, just go on seeing the world with a full heart and clear eyes, never looking back, living that moment the best you can. That's Zen, right there. Zen is New Year's Day, all the time.

Or, you can spend the year waiting for the next new year. thinking you'll start over then. And then do the same the year after that. It doesn't sound like a plan.

So tonight, between the jello shots and the cheering and the prayers, make this one resolution above all others. This year, every day will bring new hope and new opportunities. Every day will be New Year's Day.

Happy New Year's Day, everyone.