"People don't change Melissa; not overnight!" It felt right from the moment he said it; only, I wasn't ready to accept it then...On deeper thought, nothing changes over night.

Everyone is talking of the new year. So much has happened over the past twelve months and now it's finally time to leave all of that behind and turn a fresh page. That said, are new years about an instant change? Does everything just fall into place from the moment the clock strikes twelve?

Many of us fool ourselves into believing in Cinderella magic only to realise the next day that life is still the same.

So what really makes a new year so new? It's the gratefulness that one feels towards God for being so merciful and gracious so as to bless one with another year, another opportunity to make things right, another chance to be everything one wants to be. It is every moment in the coming year that joins every other moment in the coming year to form so many such moments that make the coming year a new year. It is taking good memories from the year gone by and learning too, into the new year and embracing good times and hard times with the same courage seasoned with a smile that makes everything about the next three sixty odd days, new.

Thank You God for the year gone by. Thank You for each moment and experience. Thank You for the smile and for the tear. Thank You for the Happy New Year!