Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2018

-Knock! Knock!

-Who’s there?

-New Year!!!

Ding-a-ling! I can hear the dulcet timbre of Christmas and New Year as we gladly mosey into 2018. What a world of mirthful jollity a novel beginning brings!

Inside each one of us, there is a river that flows. That river is hope. When overflowing with love, it keeps everything fresh and alive everywhere it reaches, enhancing the beauty of the landscape. However, after a long severe drought, it slowly dries up; leaving in its aftermath unrealised dreams and unmet goals. Absence of hope is despair and despair is essentially destructive. We all need to struggle to keep hope alive and not surrender to despair because nobody can survive without hope. We need hope as we need oxygen. The act of living is, in itself, an act of hope. The festive season is like monsoon which exuberantly fills up the dried up river- it’s a compass to those who have lost their bearings, to some- a license to renew forgotten promises. The gist of celebrating New Year is to leave behind all your mental stress as you see the sparkle in the eyes of your loved ones, to burn your negative emotions in the incandescent fireworks and to ditch your past histories and anything that makes you unhappy as you pop open that splendid bottle of champagne. This is the best part of New Year’s- a psychological lift that every human being needs from time to time.

One question which irks all of us, however is, “Why do we feel that time is flying us by?” A review of my year so far will be a series of shots of me saying: “I can’t believe it’s 2017 already. I can’t believe Christmas is gone. I can’t believe I’m back to work. I can’t believe the weekend is almost over. I can’t believe it’s Monday already. I can’t believe the week is over. I can’t believe it’s the weekend again. I can’t believe January is over already. I can’t believe October is about to end. I can’t believe it’s December already. I can’t believe 2017 is almost over.” As we grow older, we have the freakish impression that time moves faster and faster, that the earlier periods of our lives seemed to last longer. Like nowadays, the weekend seems to be only thirty minutes long. It is as if, unbeknown to us, time is secretly being coarctated. I think the reason for this disparity in our experience of time has to do with how involved we are with the events in our life. Something that captures our attention and emotion will seem to last longer. The problem is that nowadays we live our life like we are travelling in a speedboat, in a race against time, always focusing on our next destination. We live our life hopping from one deadline to another, one project to another, one birthday in the weekend to a birthday in the next, a football league match this week to a cup match the next. Our attention is not in the present moment, we are always being dragged away from what we consider to be mundane activities that yet constitute the major chunk of our life. If we want to change things around onwards, we probably need to think of the journey like we are travelling in a glass bottom boat, where there are many wonders right here under our feet, giving depth to every moment and making the journey more long-lasting and pleasurable.

To mark the occasion, I’d like to remind you, my loved ones, of our priorities: to make the world we live in a kinder, more peaceful place through our actions. Help whoever you can, whenever you can. I believe success, when shared, has a multiplier effect. It’s not about leaving anyone behind. It’s about helping pull everyone, and humanity in general, ahead. Do not be stingy when it comes to sharing love, compassion and sympathy; for in the end, from dust we were made, to dust we shall return.

Guys, I cannot fathom driving without street signs, traffic signals and no rules. Just the same, I cannot fathom blogging without YOU! Yes! YOU! YOU’RE FAB! Blogging has been the ideal escape for my soul struggling from the darkness of worldly wickedness to the light of fond camaraderie. You have all been very amiable to me and appreciative of my posts throughout 2017. Words alone cannot express the immense gratitude I feel in my heart. You, 4 191 people, deserve more than mere thank you’s, really. As I come to a close, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2018. May the year 2018 give you the opportunity to realize your dreams, rediscover your strengths, muster your willpower and rejoice in the simple pleasures that life would bring your way.

I love you!

Cheers!

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Author: The Little Mermaid

My soul is an enthralling mystery, delicately concocted with some chaos and a little glee.

370 thoughts on “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2018”

  3. Hi Mermaid, I’m here and it’s great to see you. I love the imagery you used in your post and indeed we all need to work to make the world happier and better where we can.
    I hope you have an amazing Christmas ☺️

    Reply

  6. Wish, from me to you, the best and only the good !!

    Also, wishes the same, White, my dog, the Girl and the Mustache, my cats, and others…

    Thanks, health, happiness, peace, and blessings, for you and everyone !!!

    Reply

  7. What a lovely powerful message to end and begin with. Indeed now is all there is. Despair is useful in finding hope, Sharing what we have been so graciously been blessed with. Until then God bless and thank you. Merry Christmas and Happy New year!

    Reply

  8. This was such an incredibly beautiful and well written post. And it was so relatable as well. I could not agree more. I don’t know how many times I have said it as well this year: I can’t believe the weekend is over, wow is it december already? Etc…etc… So true. This post really made me rethink this. Thank you!
    I hope you will have a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year. Looking forward to your upcoming posts next year 😊

    Reply

  9. OK Little Mermaid, you wanted to let everyone know you have 4,191 followers – I hear you. I have only 370 – I’m not jealous! hahaha Seriously, it’s been a fabulous bloglationship and I’ve loved reading your posts including this one! I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Blogalicious New Year 2018. Lots of love, Marie

    Reply

    1. Aww Marie, you’d think I make much of the number of followers that I have? I’d rather measure my success based on the depth of the relationship I share with them. I know you were kidding right there. Haha!

      Likewise darling, it’s been a pleasure to interact with you. May our friendship strengthen in 2018.

      Hugs and kisses X

      Reply

  25. Merry Christmas, lovely Mermaid. I look forward to your posts in the New Year. Your writing style and your appearance are so elegant. Your post reminds me of a quote I read long ago: We want to create a world in which love is more possible. (Carl Oglesby)

    Reply

  27. Ditto to all the well wishes that have been given to you, Little Miss Mermaid! Let’s hope that 2018 can be a more peaceful, kinder and compassionate time for all and the world.

    Reply

  40. I was six years old, and it was in fact my six years birthday. I’ve forgotten now what gifts I was given, and I don’t remember what my birthday cake with six candles looked like. But I do remember a thought that struck me powerfully that day. I remember thinking, how can it be that the time between my fifth and sixth birthday was so much shorter than the time between my fourth and my fifth? There had been an eternity between four and five, and between five and six there’d been just one single year!

    I’ve never forgotten that moment and that thought! It was an experience that I’ve returned to again and again. Now I’m seventy, and I’ve noticed that 2017 seemed short indeed. But at the same time, there are things that I know happened this year that seem to have happened a very long time ago. Have you experienced that too?

    Well, anyway – I came across your blog today because you liked my comments on the very fine blog OVER THE HILL on the YELLOW BRICK ROAD ( https://overthehillontheyellowbrickroad.com/ ). I’ll be back here to see more of what you write. Today you made me remember an awesome childhood experience. 🙂 🙂

    For now, I wish you Happy Holidays
    Ellington

    Reply

    1. Hi Arletta, I guess this is just how our perception of time works. To slow down time, metaphorically speaking, I guess we have to be more mindful of the things going on in our life. Conditioning our mind to fully attend to what’s happening, to what we are doing, to the space we are moving through, will enable us to better live the ‘now’.

      Not to mention, change is an absolute vital. Change gives our brain the opportunity to process new information and feelings. If we feed our brains with more new information, the extra processing time required will make us feel like time is moving more slowly. And suppose it’s true that perception is reality, we’d effectively be making our days longer. Isn’t that awesome?

      Wishing you health, prosperity, joy and the love of your closed ones in 2018.

      Hugs X

      Reply

      1. Thanks for Your reply here! Makes me think – “Conditioning our mind to fully attend to what’s happening, to what we are doing, to the space we are moving through”. Perhaps this means (to me) returning to the perception of time I had when I was four. For me, today, time is a fiction. A very practical and useful fiction, of course. At the age of four I hadn’t yet got to know that fiction, so I experienced the eternal “now” instead. That’s what your words about “the space we are moving through” makes me think about. Time, not as a line of events, but as a space where we move up and down and east, west, north and south.
        Well, I’ll try to follow Your advice, conditioning my mind to this!
        Wish You a Happy New Year 🙂 🌐 🎈 💡 🍀 🙂
        Ellington
        P.S. We are two people making this blog or ours – Ellington and Arletta. Arletta is my companion.

        Reply

  49. Life might be a flowing river but our precious, unique cultural heritage is the fertile sediment that has been laid down at the bottom of it by our preceding generations. You look great in that picture dear!

    Reply

  58. Greetings…..I am wishing your a wonderful Holiday Season, and the New Year is just around the next weekend, may it be prosperous and joyous also……you are a lovely woman, great picture……xxkat

    Reply

  62. Good afternoon my dear Little Mermaid for this barrage of “likes” in my page. I am seeing patients now but I will check yours in the evening. Un baccione. Arrivederci!

    Reply

  64. I’m your newest follower and I must admit that I’m enthralled by your writing. This post is like a mirror before me. Thanks for reflecting my inner-self and edifying me on the essence of life. I look forward to reading more of your work in the coming year. Happy Holidays!

    Reply

  68. I’m guilty of saying those things “I can’t believe it’s..”. It’s tricky trying to live in the moment. If I want to see friends I basically have to book appointments weeks or even months in advance. When it comes to the event I don’t usually feel in the mood.
    I could blab on forever about this but for now have a great Christmas and a happy new year!
    P.s. Great blog & beautiful photos.
    Peace
    x

    Reply

  69. Beautiful, insightful post. I hope you had a Merry Christmas, are enjoying the 12 Days of Christmas that started yesterday (Christmas Day), and have a blessed New Year and 2018. 🙂

    Reply

  72. Nicely written indeed.Happy new year to you too.River of hope solace heart.More one forgives, one has greater peace with oneself. More we give, the higher we receive. While we make empty the filled cup only then may add more into it.So if one empty oneself one can refill one’s puturbed heart with love.That is better than carrying troubled past and burdensome future with misery. We may begin the new year with serious pursuit of happiness. As you have pinpointed we are there to take charge of our life in present moment.
    Let us begin with ‘let go’. Let things happen instead of making those happened. Life itself is the treasure.Celerate the existence which in itself is a bliss…

    Reply

  74. Very well put, my Dear little Mermaid! 🙂

    We think life is passing us by; whereas we are the ones who are passing life by, even at speedboat speeds!

    I liked Your little reminder. Again, beautifully put.

    “Our priorities: to make the world we live in a kinder, more peaceful place through our actions. Help whoever you can, whenever you can. I believe success, when shared, has a multiplier effect. It’s not about leaving anyone behind. It’s about helping pull everyone, and humanity in general, ahead. Do not be stingy when it comes to sharing love, compassion and sympathy; for in the end, from dust we were made, to dust we shall return.”

    Beautiful!

    Happy New Years to You! Love and Regards. 🙂

    Reply

  75. Now there’s a resolution I can slow dance to! To be kinder and more peaceful in our actions . . . to a world in need of so very much of that good thing.

    Here here to the lovely sentiment.

    Reply

  80. For me, the perception that time moves faster as we get older is psychological variation on the Doppler Effect. The “waves” of time feel compressed as we head into the future but they feel more spaced out as we look backwards. And therein lies the key, I think. Most adults are always looking forward or backward but children spend most of their time in the now. And after all, now is the only thing we have.

    I always enjoy your posts. Thoughtful and provocative. All the best for a Merry Christmas and a terrific 2018.

    Reply

  87. This was lovely about how time slips away unless we stop and enjoy. Just as in a meal with family, taking phones to put down, look at each other, listen to each other and savor what and who we have.
    You did a wonderful job this year by visiting and making your followers feel better in your writing. 💞
    Hope you have a healthy, enjoyable and meaningful new year! 🎉 🌟 🎆

    Reply

  91. I like to tell people it seemed like it took forevvvvverrrr to reach the age of sixteen so I could get my driver’s license. Once I had my license, life seemed to speed up, whether because a car moves faster than I do on foot or for some other reason. The thing is to take it in stride (punny 🙂 and be sure to stop and smell the roses, gaze into the starry night sky, cherish the one you’re with, and think positively. We will grow old, and life will end, but it’s best to collect smiles along the journey rather than go out with a heavy heart.
    Great post, great attitude. Thank you for following me, and thank you for liking and commenting 🙂
    Happy New Year! 🙂

    Reply

  93. I enjoyed reading this post — and I can relate to the concept of time flying past faster and faster as we age. If only we had the energy and strength of the young while also having the wisdom that comes from years of living.

    Reply

  95. Such a beautiful message! Yes, time seems to carry us like a speedboat. I will endeavor to slow down and watch through the glass bottom. I love the heartful priorities and wish you the best in 2018.

    Reply

  96. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you, Mermaid. Before I get all philosophical about time, I thought I’d share a Christmas joke with you. These daggy jokes have been a part of Christmas ever since I can remember and I’ve never liked them.
    Who says “Oh! Oh! Oh!?”
    Santa walking backwards.
    For us, December is a period of mad, frenetic activity as our school year comes to a close and there’s also the end of year Christmas dance concert. I have come to an absolute stop post Christmas. My husband and the kids have gone away to a family wedding and I knew weeks ago that I couldn’t manage it. That I was better off saying I couldn’t go, than ending up being a liability. I ended up spending all of today asleep and they work me up at 8.30pm to say they’d arried safely. I was very relieved because my husband is exhausted and it’s a 10 hour drive.
    I think we’ve lost that fine art of waiting. Saving up before we buy something instead of getting it immediately. I am also starting to become more aware of being saturated with news items from around the world and most of it’s irrelevant. While it’s important to be global and aware of what’s going on around the world, it’s more important to focus on where we are and where we can make a legitimate difference. Make sure we know how our nearest and dearest are going, which could well slip under the radar. Most people don’t advertise when they’re doing it tough. They don’t want to impose. Keep it to themelves, which makes for quite an irony. You’re hearing all this stuff about celebrities you’ve never met and things going on in places you’ve never been, and yet don’t know what’s going on with those you know, loe and care about.
    Here in Australia, we have Are U OK Day. The trouble is that once you’ve established that someone you care about isn’t OK, it can be quite difficult to make the next step. What do you do, especially if they’re not talking? iI consider myself pretty well versed in this area, and yet I still find it a real struggle. That’s a bit of a tangent to your post but somehow it took me there.
    Best wishes,
    Rowena

    Reply

      1. Thank you very much, Mermaid. I find that sitting and just hanging out is often when I have my most productive conversations.
        A few week’s ago, my daughter started high school and I’d been thinking she’d catch the bus home and I’d be freed up. However, she doesn’t feel comfortable catching the bus, despite catching a train and bus to her last school. I am accustomed to such inconsistencies and so am fitting in with her. It’s been quite enlightening because I’m meeting her new friends and she’s quite chatty where last year she spent much of her time in her room after school and wasn’t very interactive. I also figure that it won’t be long until she’s on the bus and then I’ll be complaining about missing our time together.
        Wishing you all the best too!
        xx Rowena

        Reply

  99. Such a beautiful post, and yes, time is flying, we should make the most of each and every moment of every day.. You look gorgeous, and I send you lots of Love for 2018.. May you continue to spread Peace and Joy and Inspiration to all who land upon your pages..
    Love and Blessings LM…
    And some Big Hugs to you,
    Sue ❤

    Reply
  103. Pingback: The Last One of 2017! Weekly Inspiration Roundup Vol. 25 | When Women Inspire

  106. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas to remember. Your words of eloquent kindness flow like silk which in turn seem to wrap around the body with great warmth. You have a great audience and it is a pleasure to have come across your part of the world to say I hope you have a wonderful New Year.

    Sincerely Sonea

    Reply

  110. What great beautiful pictures. I think about all this all the time. I love taking my time and doing what I love! The key is to somehow make a living at it too. I think most of what we (society does) is to please others. Something we forget to go do as we grow up because kids have this play thing down. This year I want to play and focus on what I am good at. I am good at writing and paining and really expressing my curiosity through the projects I CREATE.

    Reply

  112. Happy New Year! Yes, hope, experience, being engaged in the moment. When I saw the picture of you at the piano in the gorgeous gown, I thought of all of those old holiday movies in which the characters are dressed beautifully, playing the home piano and singing songs together…. (It’s a Wonderful Life, White Christmas, Holiday Inn, Christmas in Connecticut, etc.). Not the same as sitting about in our lounge pants streaming someone else singing Christmas tunes while the TV has some sports match on. Make 2018 a lived year. -Oscar

    Reply

  114. May you have a great year filled with immense happiness and luck! Stay in good health and achieve greater heights of success. Wishing you a wonderful year ahead!

    Reply

  128. Everything you say is so very passionate and heart warming. I would love to give you a great big hug!
    Your words, pictures, and posts throughout the past year have been fabulous.
    I look forward to what will come this exciting year ahead. hugs, Eddie

    Reply

  138. Wishing you, your loved ones and all your followers a very safe & peaceful New Year. Your writing is as elegant as your photo – looking forward to what you do in 2018!

    Reply

  139. This post captures my thoughts earlier today before browsing the internet. I was imagining how wonderful it would be if I should help 300 people to get well established, and each of the 300 should reach out to three to five hundred other people, and those ones continue the humane replication…., goodness becomes the new order of humanity.

    May I, dear Aquatic Lady of resplendent winsomeness, comment on your beauty that hit my ocular prowess (not negatively but pleasurably).

    This is a beautiful post from Lady Brain and Beauty. However, I do believe that ‘hope’ stands to go conquering and to conquer when it stands resolutely on love. Why? Simple. Love is a Personage: God, the Creator. The psalmist, who had a covenant with God, in the 23rd song was led by this Shepherd to the still waters, where agriculture must flourish. The water, most definitely is the Word of God i.e. Jesus, the power of God. On this Rock of ages ‘hope’ will pitch his or her ‘faith’ and will never stray into the disappointing claws of ‘despair,’ I believe.

    It’s such a delectation taking a perusing ride through your post. Happy New Year. May you flourish à la Psalm 23. Amen!?

    Reply

    1. Aw! I apologize for the delay in replying to this beautiful comment of yours, my dear friend. I love your interpretation of ‘love’ as God. This is precisely why I believe showering people with love, kindness and empathy is a prayer to The Almighty.

      May you be blessed throughout your day and always. Take care.🤗

      Reply

      1. It’s okay, dear lady of aquatic splendour. I understand. Of course it’s a kind of prayer, simply because prayer, simply defined, is ‘talking to God.’ May the good LORD take care of all that concerns you, Little Mermaid.

        Reply

  144. Lovely, lovely post! I really like the quote: “Inside each one of us, there is a river that flows. That river is hope.” So beautiful.

    And I agree whole-heartedly about the community encouragement of blogging. I love that we can talk to one another across great distances and build each other up. 🙂

    Reply

  151. I am like a glow worm in front of you comparing to the sun. As said earlier, your English is so good that even Mr.Samuel Johnson, if he were to be alive, would really be astounded by the way your paragraphs moves from one to another. As you say everyone lives in this world with the only thing ‘HOPE’ as quoted in ‘PANDORAS BOX. ‘YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY,CORRECT IN SAYING HELP OTHERS. Sorry for being late in going through your NEW YEAR POST.

    YOUR POST IS ATTRACTIVE SO DOES YOUR BEAUTY. BEST OF LUCK IN 2018 AND THE UNENDING YEARS TO FOLLOW.

    Reply

  153. Thanks for the reply to my comments. I doubt whether a book will be big enough to hold all the beautiful comments you get which are as beautiful as you are in your photographs in front of the piano and other places where your beauty appears.

    Reply

  156. Very well written.

    I’ve always thought of the Christmas and New Year season as a time of hope.

    I suppose that’s why it’s my favourite time of year.

    And you’re right about how time seems to fly when you get older.

    When I was young the days seemed to last forever.

    And now they just seem to fly by.

    Reply

  157. It does feel like I’m on the speed highway to older age.. I blink and 2 days have past. I take a nap and two weeks have past. I sleep for a night and 2 months have past… time is moving but enjoying every moment is key. Thank you for your post

    Reply

  158. Bless your sweet, sweet heart! This heart-felt, thought-provoking, relate-able, delightful, excellently-written post is so uplifting and wonderful. Thank you for sharing…My lunch break is over but I will read some more of your posts in the morning. 🙂

    Reply

  160. This is so amazing words, well balanced and measured. I pray this year will bring much more happiness, success and accomplishments.

    Hope we can connect on Facebook…do you have a page??
    Thanks:)

    Reply

    1. Hello dear, thank you for dropping by. I appreciate it. I have yet to create a facebook page for ‘The Little Mermaid’. I know I should do that as soon as possible. I will let you all know once it will be up! Till then, I’m glad to keep in touch with you on WordPress.

      See you X

      Reply

  162. What… !! 😍😍😍😍😍Are you for real..?!?! 😇😇😇😇!!! Oh my!!! 😍😍😍!! Now i know why they show mermaids out of the world.. 😀😀!! Ps. Sorry but i didn’t read the post, just jumped to the comment after seeing you..

    Reply

      1. Oh Dear.. I did read it! Obviously after commenting.😀I saw you in my notification,landed to your blog, chose to read your this post that moment, but that followed with 🤔🤔 umm.. yeah!! I was kinda gobsmacked to see you,😍that I prioritized commenting first.That was the whole point of mentioning it in postscript😋😋 I added few words outa your post in my vocabulary too😬! Didn’t thank you then.. cuz may be I prefer to say it now.. 😋 A big thank you to you.. for letting me witness a beautiful human .. “YOU” 😇😇. Wish you a wonderful & spirited 2018.. ☺️☺️

        Reply

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