_{Image by Philip Myrtorp}

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I stood back to study my handwork, and I nodded as I gave myself an imaginary pat on the back. There was nothing like going into the New Year with a bang, and in this case, it was with fireworks. A lot of fireworks.

Earlier today, while my mom and sisters had been busy in the kitchen preparing the meal we would serve our guests on January 1st, my Dad and I had been going around the house, fixing it all up and putting up decorations to liven everywhere up.

Then, this evening we had strolled to the supermarket close by and purchased over two thousand dollars worth of fireworks. They were built in the form of rockets and the set came with its detonation box and manual. In the manual, it was listed different ways to arrange the rockets so I could get different patterns when they exploded.

I chose the one I felt to be the most beautiful and arranged the rockets as instructed in the manual. It was in our backyard, well away from the house. And as I stood back to admire my work, my dad walked up behind me.

“They have not gone off yet and they are so beautiful,” he commented.

I chuckled, “I can’t wait to set them off, they will be spectacular. This will be the best New Year’s Day ever.” As I spoke I looked up at the sky where the rockets would be exploding soon, it looked so full of possibilities I didn’t know when I said aloud; “I am ready for this year.”

My Dad turned to look at me, “you are? Are you sure about that?”

I removed my eyes from the sky and studied him, “of course. I have got my goals and resolutions ready, I am ready to seize the year 2022.”

My father let out a sigh, “each new year is more than just about goals and resolutions. Yes, they are all good things to have, necessary even. But they have never been a guarantee that your new year won’t turn out better than your previous one, if not worse. All the goals and resolutions will achieve is to give you things to do or not to do during the year. And that, my dear son, is not enough to make a successful year.”

“Okay Dad,” I muttered, “what then guarantees a successful year?”

“I am glad you asked. You see, to have a good year you have to decide at the very beginning the kind of year you wish to have. You decide if you want an easy year where you just relax, or a year of serious work where you chase your dreams tirelessly, or a year where you have all the fun in the world. You have to make that decision because if you fail to do that Mother Nature will do so for you. And I can say you might not like what she chooses for you.”

“But how does that work?”

“Once you have made a conscious decision to do something, especially something you believe in with all your heart, you will find yourself doing everything in your power to make it work. Everything you do both consciously and subconsciously will be based on that particular decision. It will be the driving force behind every other decision you take for the rest of the year, and as if in a movie, you will see what you planned for the year coming to life before your very eyes.”

I nodded sullenly, “so it works?”

“Of course.” My dad muttered, surprised I would even ask. “It works; I do it all the time. For next year I have decided it is going to be an easy year, seeing as your mother and I are retired it’s about time we took things down a notch. I told her about it and she agrees. We have made the decision, and so every action and inaction we take will be based on that singular decision. Whether we realize it or not.”

“Well…” I muttered, looking at the rockets, I had never thought of the New Year that way. “Honestly, I’ve not thought about how I want my year to be. I was just busy making goals and…”

“It doesn’t matter son, you can think about it. The New Year is only in a few hours, so I daresay you still have some time. And then, it does not have to be on the first of January, no law on earth says that.”

“I think I know how I want my year to be like, it’s going to be productive for me. I’ll work my ass off so I can get that promotion I missed this year, I’m still young so it’s not time to take the easy year or even the fun year. I have a lot of work to do and I’ll see to it that I get them done.”

“That’s my boy.” My Father said with a warm smile as he wrapped his hands around my shoulders, “since we’re done here, let’s go and see what your Mom and sisters are up to.”

And we turned and walked into the house.

Less than six hours later, I punched a button on the detonation box and the rockets launched off the ground, spinning in the air as they exploded into an array of colors. Creating patterns so beautiful they were hard to explain. The light was so bright I’m sure it could be seen for miles.

“Happy New Year!!!” My family screamed happily, clapping and hugging each other as we congratulated ourselves on crossing over into the New Year. It had not been easy, but we had done it.

And I had gotten sound advice from my Dad as well. One I would cherish and use for as many New Years as I can partake in.

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_{The End.
A happy New Year to each and every one of you, as we slide into 2022, I wish you all lots of love and laughter and lots of success in all your endeavors. And may the joys of the season never pass you by. See you all in 2022.}

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_{This story was inspired by this week's prompt New Year. Feel free to try it out, it's fun.
Thank you for reading.}