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BY RHODA GARZON CAMPILLAN
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Friday, December 30, 2016
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THE YEAR is about to end. Everyone is looking forward to what 2017 has to offer.
What is good about the new year celebration is that it gives hope to most of the people. There is a promise of a new beginning and of a brighter tomorrow. It gives people the reason to strive harder to improve their lives.
This year is good to me. I am blessed with so many opportunities to share my talents and abilities. I have met new friends who showed so much love and care. My family are in good health. In short, life is beautiful to be wasted. I am hopeful that 2017 will be a good year, too.
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My official theme song every new year is ABBA’s Happy New Year. Every time I hear this song, tears roll down my cheeks. The song is sung beautifully that it melts my heart. The lyrics say:
Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have a vision now and then
Of a world where every neighbor is a friend
Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have our hopes, our will to try
If we don’t we might as well lay down and die
You and I
The song depicts of a world where there is peace. When we see what’s happening around us, we feel frustrated. Wars…murders…catastrophes…this is not the kind of environment we want to live in.
The song wants to tell us as we approach a new beginning that we must give peace a chance. We can’t do much in the macro level. However, we can do much in our own homes.
As we end 2016, let us mend broken relationships. Let us open our hearts to give and accept forgiveness. It is very difficult but it feels good if you do not have baggage with you as you start a new beginning.
The song also says let us not give up trying to reach our dreams. Let us not stop trying to be better people.
If we lose hope, it will be good if we just die. We don’t want that to happen, right? As Filipinos, we have a motto – Never say die. As long as we are alive, there is hope.
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We observe different traditions during New Year celebrations. One is preparing sumptuous meals during the New Year’s Eve dinner. One dish always present is pancit.
Pancit for Filipinos signifies long life. Suman or baye-baye are also present. These are sticky, or malagkit, symbolizing tighter family relationships and also for good fortune to stick throughout the new year.
Fish and chicken are banned from the dinner table because members of the family do not want to experience isang kahig, isang tuka as they enter the new year.
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Whatever the new year has in store for us, we must always stay optimistic. How our life will turn out to be is not dependent on following traditions or wearing lucky charms; it is how we manage our lives.
My only prayer for the coming year is for peace and love to reign in our country and our homes. Happy New Year to one and all./PN
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