In a few days, we will be celebrating the New Year and the party will be on!

Everywhere around the world, the New Year is an occasion to get together with friends, drink and eat delicious food.  For those of us who are lucky, it also involves sharing a romantic midnight kiss with our beloved.  Realizing that so many people will be doing the same exact thing at the same exact time adds a magical dimension to the moment. This is a time of shared happiness, when we celebrate the fact that we have yet made it through another year and that we are ready to take on the future, as we sip our Champagne, surrounded by the people we love most. What could be better than that?

Besides all the partying and rejoicing, this is also a time of reflection for many of us.  As we contemplate the past year, we are often tempted to make changes in our lives.

Unlike during the High Holidays – when we reflect on the past year and repent – our New Year resolutions do not generally have anything to do with God or others.  They are mostly centered on ourselves and how we have failed or done well in areas such as health, work or love.

We will probably resolve join a gym, go on a diet, and, for those of us who haven’t already done so, find that true love, the one with whom we will share a romantic kiss next year, when the clock strikes midnight.  This New Years Eve we’ll commit to doing these things, as we did last year and the year before that.

Unfortunately, as we all know from experience, we don’t always manage to keep those resolutions and, unless we take action and get the support we need to pursue our goals, we may find ourselves next year in the same place we are today.

The New Year is a good time to change things.  A symbolic fresh start. Here is our advice to turn your resolutions into accomplishments:  first don’t be too hard on yourself.  Focus on the one thing you would like to change most. Define a realistic goal and commit yourself to reaching it. And finally, recognize that it may not be easy to do it alone, so get the support you need.  And if your resolution this year is to find your beshert, come to us. We will help you turn your dream into reality!

Happy New Year!