So as we reach the end of another year, it’s a time for tender reflection of the year gone by and opening an exciting blank slate for the time to come. For me, 2018’s been a year of change. I started a new role at work that will happily see me through to the end of my career, I began this blog which I’ve enjoyed so much, adopted yet another animal, seen one son get married, another son graduate University and daughter settle happily. I’ve seen my little granddaughter hospitalised with Pneumonia and bounce back to health. Friends have passed on, friends have given birth.
I end the year happier than I began it, and I cannot ask for more than that.
I’m not one for New Year’s Resolutions. Everyone begins with good intentions, and then watch resolutions fall by the wayside incomplete. My belief is that if you want to really do something, don’t wait for a new year to start – just do it!
This year I’ve found myself championing help for the needy and can see this growing in 2019. I’ve connected with individuals who provide opportunities to do something concrete – rather than the odd cup of coffee and sandwich I’ve been able to provide to homeless rough-sleepers on occasion.
In my town, one individual has instigated a weekly free Sunday Lunch for any homeless or lonely person. One decent hot meal a week can make such a difference . I was unaware of his work until a friend of mine joined forces to arrange a free Christmas dinner. A hotel in a nearby town and a night club in the City both offered their locations and services for free. Food was provided via donations, as were presents, and volunteers offered their time to help and to serve. Indeed, one homeless man has been helped further with the immediate assistance of a few nights’ hotel stay, a home found for him, first rent paid and work being sought for him. His first small offer of repayment was to help with the Christmas dinner. I wish him all the very best of luck and hope he embraces fully the opportunity he’s been given for a fresh beginning.
2019 is the year I intend to do more. I’m fed up of hearing ‘it’s so complex’, ‘they don’t want to be helped’, ‘there’s a place for everyone if they want it’ etc. It’s been a ‘complicated’ matter for as long as I can remember – decades! Complex and complicated does not mean impossible. It just means that solutions need to be found. Nothing worth doing is easy! Yes, there may be places to sleep, but they have rigid rules and most rough sleepers simply cannot adapt immediately to rules and regulations. There are difficulties: drink and drugs, violence, emotional barriers, even pride, all to get in the way. But none, absolutely none, are truly impossible to overcome with patience, kindness and time.
That said, I’m no martyr. I will also be celebrating with my own excesses without any feeling of guilt. I will be baking and cooking, and drinking and partying. I shall, as usual, be seeing the midnight turn partying among a group of friends with plenty food and fizz.
We enter into the unwritten future. It’s your story to write. Some of it we can foresee but you just don’t know what may cross your path, good or bad. Embrace opportunities, but be aware of pitfalls. Be kind! Be generous. Remember, a soft tone and a smiling face opens more doors than a battering ram.
Whatever you choose to do to see 2018 out and 2019 in, enjoy and be safe. Here’s to a prosperous and kindly 2019 ….
With love,
Maggie x