This year however, I ask you to do something a bit different. Instead of coming up with New Year’s Resolutions, I want you to come up with New Year’s Realizations.

I thank Simon Guillet of Guilletville for sending me an article he received over the email from a friend. As you read the following, which is taken from Simon’s submission along with another I already had on file, see if you can make any ‘New Year’s Realizations’ about your own life.

We all have so much to be thankful for, but life is so hectic that we often fail to realize just what we do have. We are always wishing for something better. We are always trying to improve our lot in life. Perhaps if we just took the time to make some ‘New Year’s Realizations’ over the next couple of days, we will stop chasing rainbows for the pot of gold and discover that the real treasure is right here in front of us.

If you live and breathe and have an ounce of honesty in your body, you will admit that you too have drifted into the "I wonder what would have happened..." state from time to time.

During the Christmas holidays I had the opportunity to watch one of my favourite classics of all time, ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’, starring Jimmy Stewart. I also saw three other movies: Family Man (Nicolas Cage), Frequency (David Quaid), and Destiny (James Belushi). Each of these movies centres around the main character being taken back in time where he is given an opportunity to make a ‘different choice’ which results in his entire life being altered. He then goes through the nightmare of living for a while in the new life until he realizes that his real life wasn’t as bad as he thought.

I don’t know exactly why movies like this appeal so much to me, but I do know that I feel immensely satisfied and uplifted each time I watch one. Perhaps it is because it makes me realize that, in spite of all the troubles I think I have in my life, there is so, so much to be thankful for that I wouldn’t trade it for anything. And yet, it is quite frightening to think back to some of those life-changing choices that I have made in the past and realize that if I had made a different choice, nothing in my life would be the same and all of the people I hold dear to my heart would vanish.

When I was in Teachers’ College in 1973, I had a chance to take a job in Toronto, but I made one final attempt at convincing the Sudbury Board to give me a contact. Why did I write that one final letter? What made me sit down and draft a letter that I thought would just be thrown in the garbage? Where would I be today if I had started my career in Toronto?

Back on a Sunday afternoon in January 1974, my wife dragged me away from the Super Bowl game to look at a house in Val Therese. I grew up in Lively and had never set foot in Val Caron or Hanmer, let alone given any thought to living there. Twenty-seven years later, here we are, still in the same house that I missed a Super Bowl game for - the house where we raised a family and where we fully intend to continue to build memories until the end of our time on earth. What if I would have watched the game instead of gone to look at the house? What if we would have bought a house in Lively or Sudbury instead of Valley East?

Whenever I think about such things it sends a shiver up and down my body. I look back on all of the wonderful memories and the fabulous people I have met over the years, and it leaves me with a hollow feeling when I consider that my life may very well have missed those memories and people. I think of all the people I have touched along the way and I realize that their lives may also have been changed in some significant way if I had not entered into their life. It is a bit frightening to know that my life and the lives of so many others may have been so different if I hadn’t taken 30 minutes out of my day to write a letter to the School Board in 1973; or if I had felt too comfortable sitting in front of the television drinking beer and watching the super bowl game to drive all the way to Val Therese to look at a house?

Then my mind begins to wander to other times in my life when choices were made without much thought. What would my life have been like if I had not hitch-hiked to Creighton that cold winter night in 1968 to watch the hockey game at the Creighton club. The night when one of my friends introduced me to a girl by the name of Valerie Starcevic who, four short years later would walk down the aisle with me to take my name as hers, and eventually drag me away from a Super Bowl game to look at a house in Val Therese? What if that car hadn’t stopped that cold winter night to pick me up at precisely the moment when I was about to give up on any chance of getting a ride to Creighton? What if the car had gone on by and I had turned back to go home to watch the hockey game?

Life is a series of choices. Every choice you make may well change the direction your life will take. And yet, when we make those choices, we seldom take into consideration the long-term impact that they may have. Why we make the choices we do may not always be clear at the time. They may never be clear, and I am sure you must also shake your head at some of your choices and wonder how in the name of God you made some of the decisions you did make.

One thing I am becoming more sure of as I get older, is that life generally unfolds for one reason.. "it was meant to be!"

I have learned that there is no use trying to rationalize or make sense out of what life brings you. It is best to make all of your decisions based on the conditions of the day and on what you feel in your heart is right, and then go forward with the inner confidence that you will always be able to handle the challenges that come forth. Always be certain that every decision, as long as you feel it is the right one for you, will bring you happiness that would not have occurred if you had decided differently. And above all, remember that you can never go back and undecide! You can only go forward.

Too often I have spoken to people who were distraught at the loss of a loved one and who were beating themselves up for not spending more time with them in the final days before their death. They spend agonizing days, weeks and sometimes years in what I call the "If I knew it would be the last time.." depression.

Many years ago I decided that I would adopt the "What if this is the last time..." philosophy of life. I have discovered that it leaves me at peace with the world more often and provides me with a healthy perspective on life. It is difficult at times to maintain this philosophy, and every so often I find myself regretting some action or comment that I have made. At those times I say to myself, "What if this is the last time I ever see that person? Is that how I want to be remembered, or how I want to remember him/her?"

I invite my readers to consider adopting this philosophy, even for a short trial period. See if it changes the way you look at life.

When you tuck your child in tonight, ask yourself what you would do if you knew this might be the last time you ever saw your child fall asleep. Would you give him/her an extra hug? Would you take a few minutes to lie beside your child? Would you be in such a hurry to get back to the television set?

When you leave for work in the morning, if you knew this might be the last time you ever said good-bye, would you get up a few minutes earlier so that you would have time to say good-bye to everyone and wish them all the best for the day? Would you say, "I love you" one extra time to your spouse? Would you get upset because your favourite shirt wasn’t ironed? Would you smile and wave as you were pulling out of the driveway?

When you have an argument or disagreement with a friend, a co-worker, or a loved one, if you knew this might be the last time you would see that person, would you make an extra effort to solve the problem before you left? Would you apologize for your actions or comments before you left? Would you roll over and go to sleep knowing that you have upset your spouse?

You must always remember that tomorrow is not promised to anyone. Today may be the last day of your life or the last day in the life of a loved one. You may never get a second chance to say "I love you"; to spend time with your children; to spend time with your spouse; or to spend time with your parents.

There once lived a rich man who couldn’t understand why he was unhappy. He had wealth beyond imagination, but was always in a miserable mood. He lived in a huge mansion by himself. One Christmas Eve he visited a wise old man and confided in him about his dilemma. The wise old man took him to a window.

"Look out there," he said.

The rich man looked out into the street.

"What do you see?", the wise old man asked.

"I see men and women and little children," answered the rich man.

Then the wise old man took the rich man to a mirror.

"What do you see now?" he asked.

"I see myself," the rich man answered.

Then the wise old man explained, "Behold, both the window and the mirror are made of glass. But the glass of the mirror is covered with silver. No sooner is silver added than you cease to see others and see only yourself."

The rich man left the wise old man and drove to his only sister’s house for his annual Christmas Eve visit to deliver some very expensive gifts that he had purchased for her family. It was the only day of the year he saw his sister and he usually just stayed long enough to drop off the presents and wish them a Merry Christmas.

When he arrived at the door, he was warmly greeted by his sister, her husband, and their five year old daughter. His sister and her husband were of modest means, living in a small apartment, yet they were always happy. The rich man was still confused from the advice given by the wise old man.

It was just then that the little girl ran into the living room and returned to give her rich uncle a present. The look in her eyes would have one believe that it was something very precious. When the rich man opened up the package, it was an angel pasted on a pie plate. It mattered not that the angel looked like a clown, nor that it was pasted on crooked. What mattered is that the little girl had given the rich man something that all the money in the world couldn’t buy. For the first time that he could remember, there were tears in his eyes, as the little girl gave him a big hug and asked him to stay for a while to play with her.

The rich man’s sister and her husband were both surprised and delighted when the man accepted the little girl’s invitation. It was the first time he had ever entered the apartment, although he was often asked. When he left several hours later, he realized that the little girl had given him one of life’s finest gifts. When she kissed him good bye and told him that this was the best Christmas she ever had, he suddenly understood what the wise old man was trying to tell him earlier in the day.

As he drove home that evening the stars in the sky seemed to be shining a little bit brighter. From that day onward, the rich man stopped spending time looking in mirrors, and instead, looked through every window he could find. He discovered that real joy comes not from accumulating riches or hoarding material things, but from doing something worthwhile for others. The little five-year old girl showed him that all the expensive presents in the world were not as important to her as spending a few hours playing with her uncle. The rich man never again felt unhappy! And he never again spent Christmas, Thanksgiving or birthdays alone.