#36) The End Of A Decade & My New Year’s Wish For You ~

As we reach the very end of yet another year, and the grande finale of a wild and crazy decade, we are all closing a very big and heavy and quite bulky hardcover chapter book, and we’re placing it safely onto our bookshelves. That story is now over.

And while the pages inside might be worn, or old and tired and wrinkled pieces of paper - after ten years of daily shipping and handling - those pages are also quite wonderful indeed.

The Book Of 2010:2019.

This book will now sit and rest, nestled high up on its shelf, beside all of our James Patterson novels, our John Grisham novels, our Ernest Hemingway novels. It might also rest against our journals and diaries or daily planners… planners full of possibility, and dreams yet to come true. Planners with lots of post-its in a rainbow assortment of colors sticking out the tops of its pages.

And now all the history books will be written. All that has happened between 2010 and 2019. To me, the world looks almost nothing like it did ten years ago, and yet, I can’t help but think, and hope, that it still looks very much the same. We still celebrate the end of a year, we still dream for the future, we still have optimism in our hearts. And we still wish our fellow humans well. A Happy New Year Wish is not just a heartfelt greeting, it is a way of life. Or it can be a way of life...

So to you, my dear and fellow humans, I wish you Well. I wish you Good Tidings and Cheer. I wish for you... The World:

I wish for you to notice each flower petal as it blooms.

‘Pink Florida Hibiscus’

I wish for you to fully see and appreciate every blade of green grass, every bold and bright green leaf on a tree, every flowing frond on a palm.

‘Minty Fresh Palm Frond’

I wish for you to take the road less traveled…. Yes, even if it’s not straight and narrow. With lots of stops and curves and bumps along that route.

Because that road will make you who you are… Especially come another ten years.

‘Making Waves’

I wish for you that your cup runneth over. With joy. And love. And mostly with good will toward your fellow human beings.

‘Overflowing’

I wish for you to blend in… to live harmoniously.

‘Blended’

And I wish for you to stand out… and be yourself in a vast sea of people.

‘Jelly Dots’

I wish for you to be YOU. Whoever that may be. Light your fire and become hot and flaming.

Don’t let anyone extinguish it.

‘Hot Kitty’

I wish for you to never take your freedoms for granted.

I wish for you to eat that slice of pie…and to taste the best donuts on this Earth - after all, you only live once.

‘Pumpkin Slice’

I wish for YOU to be the one to forgive.

I wish for you to understand - and know - and realize - and believe - that forgiveness begins with you, and you alone.

I wish for you to treat others as you would like to be treated... That one’s simple - right?

I wish for you a better world ten years from now.

I wish for you to see all the GOOD that is in the world of TODAY.

I wish for you Peace On Earth.

I wish for you to love one another.

I wish for you to remember your past, your family members and friends departed...

I wish for you to know that their memory is alive and well, living deep inside you - Right. Now.

‘Glowing’

I wish for you to see your wonderful and unknowing future. Envision it. And then live that vision.

I wish for your to keep the holiday spirit alive and well… All the year through.

While the tree may come down…

‘Tropical Tannenbaum’

And the snow may stop falling…

‘Snowshelled’

And the music might change its tune…

The spirit and the sparkle that are alive and breathing during all the many unique and wonderful and amazing holidays, can stay in your heart... all the year through - if you let it, and welcome it in.

But most of all…

I wish for you ADVENTURE…

‘Ruby Jane 2018’

I wish for you to Dream A Dream.

And I wish for YOU to make that dream come true.

I wish for you to visit a different state.

‘Hashtag Florida’

I wish for you to travel to a different country.

I wish for you to see the world from a different point of view.

I wish for you to stand on this Earth from a different vantage point.

I wish for you to see something in real life, that you only ever saw buried deep inside the worn pages of a book, or a magazine.

I wish for you to take a road trip. And to eat yummy and wickedly greasy food inside your four wheel drive Ford Explorer, while you’re on cruise control through various cities and states, looking out your window, passing by rows of cotton, or corn, or soybean, on the side of the road. And to drop a hot french fry under your car seat, and let it fall deep into a Black Hole, never to be seen from again. And to drink delicious and very strong espresso or coffee from Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts to help keep you awake on the road. And then to spill some hot and sticky drips onto your nice leather center console, and to not worry even once what these spills will do to your car’s interior.

I wish for you to take a plane ride. And to let it take you around the curvature of the Earth.
I wish for you to board a bus and take a ride driven by someone else. Yes, that red and white and black Disney Transport Bus does count.
I wish for you a carriage ride.
A sleigh ride.
A trolley ride.
A ride in an Airstream, traveling high up into the mountains. To stand up there and look down upon the Earth’s ground floor. And to stand at the bottom of the mountain and look up toward the top floor.
I wish for you a train ride… yes, even that ride you may not want to go on.

‘Train Ride To Vermont’

I wish for you to travel long and far and wide, all the way through to a vast and faraway desert, and walk toward a mirage, and head onward to the horizon if you must - to find what you are looking for.

‘Palm Mirage’

I wish for you to challenge your soul.

I wish for you to look back on this next and upcoming decade…

The Book Of 2020:2029.

Ten more whole years of life… And to reflect on your actions. Reflect on your vision.

‘Reflective Palms’

To really see what is right in front of you.

And to see what is beyond you. Envision what is on your future horizon line.

See what your reflection looks like when it bounces back at you from the water. What will YOU give back to the world… in all of that long time?

I wish for you to be present and aware a decade from now…

2029 !

And to look back, and to think to yourself, that you did everything you possibly could to live… To Be Fully And Completely Alive. In your heart and in your soul. Over the next ten years. To look back another whole decade from now... And to send out a Tweet, post an Insta, put a Pin on your Pinterest Board… Or to do whatever it is we all will be doing ten years from now? Send out a letter, draft up an email, write a blog post, type up a whole book… Or maybe, just simply put something down on pen and paper, write a note inside your journal, or draft some scribble onto a bright yellow post-it that you then tuck inside of your daily planner, with a wish for that next decade...

Then close the book.

And Live that wish…

All the days of your life. ~

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Author:

Christine Pieper is an Artist and Lifestyle Blogger, living, writing, and painting in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, with her hubby and eight year old puppy. She made a major life change in 2017 by uprooting and moving from Illinois to the Sunshine State, and has been living her best life in Florida since - detailing all her many and varied adventures living and traveling the Deep South to share with you. Her mission is to help you live YOUR best life - by getting out there, going for it, and making that big change you always dreamed of. Christine will inspire you to get over yourself, show up for yourself, and get out of your own way. The only one stopping you - is YOU.

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