Happy, Healthy And Prosperous New Year 2009!!!!

Wishing all of you aHappy, Healthy and ProsperousNew Year 2009!!

NEW YEAR'S EVE TRADITIONS

The joyous celebration of the New Year is probably the world's oldest. Many cultures have their own annual beginning, but the journey of time, as expressed through the Gregorian calendar, is how each passing day is marked in the United States.
History of New Year's:
2000 years ago and then some, it is believed that Ancient Babylonians began their New Year with the first New Moon after the Spring Equinox. A logical time to celebrate, spring brings with it new growth and has always been symbolic of hope and the promise of things to come. The Babylonians feasted for eleven days, each day with its own festive theme.
Fast forward to Julius Caesar who, during a visit to Egypt around 150 BC, found the calendar of his dreams. The Romans tried to follow the same cycle as set by the Egyptians with the New Year beginning in spring. But scholars and emperors continued to finagle with the calendar until it fell out of synchronization with the sun. The Roman senate, in an attempt to get everything back on track, named January 1 as the first day of the year, and eventually it was entitled the Julian Calendar.
Still the calendar was constantly being revised and manipulated by various people, until 1582 when Pope Gregory XIII established the Gregorian Calendar. This calendar set the dates in stone and offered a clear distinction of the four seasons. The Gregorian Calendar is what most of the Western world uses.
Champagne Toast:
Liveliness in a glass, a Champagne toast at midnight is a much-loved tradition. Probably French in origin, something bubbly be it Champagne or sparkling water is always a festive way to commemorate a special occasion.
Kissing Your Loved One at Midnight:
It is customary to kiss the one you love or hope to love at midnight as if to say, "Congratulations, to us for making it through another year!"
Noisemakers:
Church bells ring and people make a lot of noise all around the world when the clock strikes 12:00. This tradition is believed to be from the ancient belief that if one was loud and made enough of a raucous they could drive evil spirits away. New Year's Resolutions:
Whether it is be a silent promise to one's self to stop telling white lies or a big declaration of intent to lose weight, a New Year's resolution is a must. Many find it easier to make a fresh beginning as symbolized by January 1.
The interesting thing about New Year's Resolutions is that the flaws they address are usually most in evidence during the holidays; eating too much, drinking too much, spending too much money, yelling at your family, making out with a coworker behind the ficus at an office party, that sort of thing. It's a handy arrangement--when looking for ways to shore up your personality, you only have to consider the past three or four weeks. This also explains why so few New Year's Resolutions involve sculling, tanning, or sand castles.
Baby New Year & Father Time:
The tradition of a "Baby New Year" is said to have started in Greece around 600 BC. In celebration of Dionysus, god of wine, a baby in a basket represented the annual rebirth of the god as the spirit of fertility. An obvious correlation, today Baby New Year symbolizes the young year, and old Father Time reminds us how the year has aged. However, it was the 14th century Germans who are credited with having a New Year's banner with the image of a baby as a symbol of the New Year.
The Tournament of Roses Parade:
In 1886, members of the Valley Hunt Club decorated their carriages with flowers and paraded through Pasadena, CA, celebrating the ripe orange crop. Today, large elaborate floats covered with flowers, nuts, and organic materials, join in the pageantry of The Tournament of Roses Parade. The Rose Bowl, a football game, has traditionally followed the parade since 1902, with a brief "time-out" when the sport was replaced with Roman chariot races in 1903. Thirteen years later, much to its fans delight, football made a comeback!
Food For Luck In The New Year:
Traditionally, it was thought that one could affect the luck they would have throughout the coming year by what they did or ate on the first day of the year. For that reason, it has become common for folks to celebrate the first few minutes of a brand new year in the company of family and friends. Parties often last into the middle of the night after the ringing in of a new year. It was once believed that the first visitor on New Year's Day would bring either good luck or bad luck the rest of the year. It was particularly lucky if that visitor happened to be a tall dark-haired man.
Traditional New Year foods are also thought to bring luck. Many cultures believe that anything in the shape of a ring is good luck, because it symbolizes "coming full circle," completing a year's cycle. For that reason, the Dutch believe that eating donuts on New Year's Day will bring good fortune.
Many parts of the U.S. celebrate the new year by consuming black-eyed peas. These legumes are typically accompanied by either hog jowls or ham. Black-eyed peas and other legumes have been considered good luck in many cultures. The hog, and thus its meat, is considered lucky because it symbolizes prosperity. Cabbage is another "good luck" vegetable that is consumed on New Year's Day by many. Cabbage leaves are also considered a sign of prosperity, being representative of paper currency. In some regions, rice is a lucky food that is eaten on New Year's Day.
Auld Lang Syne:
It's always funny to hear people sing Scots poetry while wearing shiny hats.The song, "Auld Lang Syne," is sung at the stroke of midnight in almost every English-speaking country in the world to bring in the new year. At least partially written by Robert Burns in the 1700's, it was first published in 1796 after Burns' death. Early variations of the song were sung prior to 1700 and inspired Burns to produce the modern rendition. An old Scotch tune, "Auld Lang Syne" literally means "old long ago," or simply, "the good old days."

HAPPY NEW YEARS TO EVERY ONE!

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Are you one of the millions of people suffering from the “After Christmas Woes”? What is the “After Christmas Woes”; well I’m glad you asked. The “After Christmas Woes” is an overwhelming, burdensome feeling that come upon a person after he or she has lost their mind due to the extreme pressure that the world has placed on them during the Christmas season.
Yea I know, you are probably trying to justify your “After Christmas Woes” by saying, I get this feeling sometimes from the stress at my job or from the stress of life in general. It is a big difference when you get this overwhelming, burdensome feeling from the pressure of life because the issues of life are out of our control. Wouldn’t you agree that life has enough stress on it’s own to begin adding more unnecessary stress to it?
Well you may be saying I celebrate Christmas because it is about the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Then if Christmas is about Jesus, then why do we let “The World” who has rejected Jesus tell us how we should celebrate Him? You do know the world has dictated how Christmas should be celebrated don’t you? If we were to ask Jesus how would He have us to celebrate His birthday He would probably say, if you want to honor me on my day you should keep the day holy. You should tell others about Me. You should do good to your neighbor.
Okay you say, this means I could buy my neighbors presents and gifts for Christmas. Yes, there is never anything wrong with buying your neighbors gifts. But we should not let “The World” dictate to us when we should buy these gifts. When we are under pressure to buy our neighbors, friends, siblings, parents, aunts and uncles, cousins, co-workers, bosses, mail carriers, garbage collectors, and let’s not forget our children who we give everything our little money and credit cards can buy, then this is not what Jesus meant when He said we should do good to our neighbors.
If we feel obligated to buy everyone a gift for Christmas, we are under bondage and we have allowed “The World” to dictate to us how we should honor the very person that they have rejected.
How does a person know whether he or she has the “After Christmas Woes”? Here are a few symptoms:
1)You are relieved that the holiday is finally over.
2)You spent more money than your budget allowed.
3)You feel burden when you think about putting away all of your Christmas decorations.
4)You are still stressed three days after Christmas has already passed.
I think celebrating Christmas is great. But since Christmas is a Christian holiday, I think that Christians should dictate to “The World” how this holiday should be celebrated. Jesus said, “If you love Me, then keep my commandments”. He never said if you love Me then buy everyone gifts.
Let’s not let “The World” dictate to us any longer how we should celebrate the person who died for us. After all, Jesus did say we (The Christian) should be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. Let’s stop following “The World” and let’s start leading.

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