Say Not The Struggle Naught Availeth

New Year's Day is a day for hope, for believing that things will be different, better, this year. I have always loved setting New Year's Resolutions, things that I will begin, do more of, do less of and do better. As the years have passed I have become less enthusiastic and have even felt, this year, that there was little point. As I become a more reflective person, I am constantly assessing where I am and what I am doing and so the turn of the year seems less significant. There is also the temptation to begin to believe that nothing will ever change.

Yesterday, while out running, I stopped to watch the sun rise above a bank of fog. We were up in the Yorkshire Dales, above a valley filled with cloud. The edge was tinged apricot and we waited and watched while the earth span just a little more and the sun was too bright to look at. As we turned to resume running, I was stunned by the colour of the hill behind me, glowing orange as it reflected the direct rays of the sun. I was reminded of a poem which my mum used to read me: 'Say not the struggle naught availeth' and its last line: 'In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly! But westward, look, the land is bright!'

In looking up the poem, oh, the marvels of the internet, I read again the first verse: 'Say not the struggle naught availeth ... and as things have been, they remain.' Although change may not be sudden or easy, it is a death to hope to believe that things remain as they always have been. I am looking forward to the growth that this year will bring!