Now that you have a new page!
It was not even New Year’s Eve, but something got me to think about the meaning of the two words “New Year”. New Year! The words resounded in my mind as I lied down on my bed to ponder on these two simple words.
I first thought about a story I read some time back. It’s a story about a boy who had a dream that a little man called Mr. New Year had come to visit him, and was now standing outside his bedroom window. Little Mr. New Year asked the boy to help him give out gifts to the people who live around that place. With much difficulty and hesitation, since it was very cold outside, the boy agreed to help little Mr. New Year. Off they went from house to house, knocking on each door until somebody came out. They gave gifts to young and old, friends and strangers, sick and well, and to anyone they found on the streets. The boy who was helping little Mr. New Year give out gifts was very surprised to see how gifts could make all the people they met so happy. Everyone was smiling as they received gifts from little Mr. New Year. Finally, the boy asked little Mr. New Year what the secret about his gifts was. Smiling at his helper, little Mr. New Year explained to the boy that gifts were not the main reason, but the fact that someone thought about you, and even came and gave you something you did not ask for, the simple act of love and care made all the people little Mr. New Year and the boy met happy. From that day onwards, the boy who helped little Mr. New Year give out gifts in his dream has never stopped being good to people. He smiles at everybody he meets and, whenever he gets a chance, he gives gifts to young and old, friends and strangers, sick and well, and to anyone he finds on the streets.
While still on my bed, I remembered another story about New Year that I liked so much. In this story two boys were playing in the snow on New Year. Many kids were outside playing in the snow: they made snow balls and threw them at one another. After much play, the two little boys went in to open their New Year presents. They had received video games, crayons, toys, chocolate bars, etc. Then they both noticed two nicely-packed gifts; one was addressed to the first boy and the other to the second. The two gifts were signed below so: from your Fairy Godmother. The two boys, having heard stories about the Fairy Godmother, quickly opened their respective gifts, only to get shocked that each had received an identical book with plain papers in it. But these books were no ordinary books: they both contained 365 pages, and you could open only one page a day. If you tried open to the next page before the new day arrived, you were to be faced with frustration; the pages were carefully glued together, except for those you had the right to open. If a new day came, the kids would find a new page unglued, white and clean, just waiting for someone to draw on it. And so that year came to an end and the two boys were busy making the 365th page of each one’s book as beautiful as they could. Just after the boys finished their work, the Fairy Godmother appeared before them. She asked each one to show her the pages of his book. The boys were shocked to find that someone had made some of the pages in their books very dirty: all the beautiful flowers they had drawn were crossed with a thick black, dirty crayon. The Fairy Godmother then explained to the boys that the books she gave them were very special: each book represented one full year. Each page was allocated to a day, and you could only see one page a day, just as you could only live one day at a time. She told them that whenever they behaved well towards others and obeyed their parents, the page in the book was made even more beautiful than they could ever make it. But, on the other hand, if they behaved badly towards others and disobeyed their parents, well, the page in the book was made dirty by some invisible hand. After a long talk, the Fairy Godmother took the old books from the boys and gave each one a brand new book. But the boys could not open even to the first page of their books on that day; oh, it was still the last day of the old year, they had to wait till the New Year began.
Having pondered for a while about the two words “New Year”, I finally convinced myself that the beginning of the year was a very special time. You might not have done well in one or two areas of your life last year; well, this is a New Year and you have a chance to do better. Or, perhaps, last year was a year of great achievements in your life, which is great! In that case, you might think of using this year to conquer new territories and move even higher on your ladder of success. No matter who you are, or where you are from, you have a New Page today, and what you do with it is absolutely up to you. I hope you will turn the pages of your book at the end of this year and smile as you see the beautiful pictures you drew during the long journey of 365 days. Good luck in everything, my dear reader! Oh, and don’t forget the rule: one page a day!
Stories:
The Fairy’s New Year Gift (by Emilie Poulsson)
The Little New Year (by Ellen Robena Field)