Many years go by filled with aspirations and hope
The resolutions we make remain mostly just that
For those of us who have resolved to lose weight
We remain as we were and still have too much fat

For those of us out of shape in need of exercise
We resolve to make ourselves over in the new year
But we give up to easily and don't keep the promise
We made to ourselves without fanfare and cheer

But we will try to remember the good that we did
With what we had and what ever we could gain
Though we had little to give and lots of needs
We gave of ourselves to others without pain

Though we may not be perfect or its true reflection
With our flaws and faults we strived to do our best
For we know it's our best that life calls for from us
And if we fall short at least we fulfilled our quest

To make the most of our talents to the giving to others
And be grateful for the chance to change a few lives
Of all the people we meet though they're not our brothers
We still stop to help all the husbands and the wives

Through their trials and tribulations during the year
And promise ourselves we'll continue the mentoring style
Of our actions and ways and do it without any fear
Leaving our brothers and sisters with a permanent smile

Though we may fail in our quest to make ourselves better
We are given another chance to do for our fellow man
In the new year like those other years in our passing
All the good for our friends and neighbors that we can

So I wish you the best in all that you plan for the year
That soon will be here in only a few short days from now
And hope that you will spend some of your precious time
In remembering that you should find in your heart somehow

The courage and drive to make someone's life a little better
By what you do in their life, to give some happiness there
By sharing your person and your talents to make them happy
Even if your are among those of us who have little to share

So set your fears aside and bring your self to the acme
Of the kindness and the goodness that you can truly show
And let the master of the universe work His way through you
And believe that you can be the best for others that you know

In the glow of your life there are few that matter
Many touch your life, few have a lasting impression
Maybe in the hustle and bustle where time can scatter
Or in the calm of a slow moving day of life's regression

It could be anywhere you may be in the work of your life
Or in the softness of evening where your solitude plays
It could be when you are troubled and filled with strife
Or during the sunrise at the beginning of one of your days

But, when it happens it is a moment the mind will ever keep
A remembrance of such a time when the world stood still
For just a while when the effect of the touch made you weep
A cry of joy and happiness untold, it's a moment to fill

Touching your heart with the special simple smile and a word
A word you have been waiting for since you knew it would be
There for you for the taking and you wonder at what you heard
You have waited and wanted to have a chance to give the key

And your heart ached for the longest time to give your love
To that special someone who could with ease touch your heart
Surely a love sent from heaven by those angels from above
And you know from the love you have found you will never part

Though you have waited for what may seem to be a lifetime
For the right person to enter into your oh so lonely life
When that special someone touches your heart it's sublime
And you know that one day that you will be husband and wife.

We are just mortal human beings who some how in our needs
Desire to be a part of something bigger than our finite souls
We put together rituals of celebration to honor various deeds
And in the make up of celebrations are certain kinds of goals

First and foremost is to satisfy personal wants of our own
So we start some sort of ritual that fits our need to show
That we are the caring people and therefore we have sown
The seeds of organization to foster and ever more to grow

The future plans of men and women that make the others note
That some important event that happened and always needs to be
Repeated time and time again to allow the ritual maker’s gloat
With more and more ornamentation and fine cloth don’t you see

It could be a lavish celebration of almost any kind of thing
Like any act in history who’s importance plays it’s part
Or of winter solstice or of tulips in the early part of spring
The only founding needed is that it comes from the heart

So like other celebrations the importance seems to give way
To the acts performed on the anniversary every succeeding year
So the lights go up and parades pass by on that very special day
But the meaning behind the celebration we do not hold so dear

So we celebrate with presents and give Santa Claus his do
Children soon learn that they’ll receive that for which they ask
When Christmas time comes around they will look to you
To do the shopping for the gifts, you can surely do the task

Of bringing Christmas into their lives with gifts they will adore
But do you bring the real reason, the birth of Christ, a baby boy
To take away all your sins and burdens and let your soul restore
Or do you teach your children to settle for just a playful toy

It is our choice you know to give them life’s own precious gift
To teach them of the meaning behind the joy of Christmas day
Or let their souls stay empty in a life that just may go adrift
So when they ask why there’s Christmas, what is it you will say

Yesterday I saw the daughter of one of my best friends
She hugged me and we chatted for a just a little while
She reminded me so of how slowly the heart mends
When it has been crushed by loss that killed a smile

When I looked into her eyes I almost broke into tears
Holding back my feelings while inside I was dying
Even though the time had been so many passing years
Since her father passed and I had stopped my crying

For my friend of many years had passed from earth
And my memories from conscious thought were lost
The feelings of knowing him for what it’s worth
Were far away in the past now in the present tossed

To know her dad was a treat so special in many ways
To see his child all grown and pretty like her mother
Reminded me of the sorrow felt in nights and days
For his friendship was greater than that of my brother

The moments passing with her there in a common place
My heart raced through the catching of my breaths
While her radiant beauty on her lovely youthful face
Caused me to die in my mind at least a thousand deaths