Happy Monopoly New Year

Across the Fence #319

New Years is the time of year when the old meets the new. The curtain falls on another year, and rises on a new one. Sometimes we wish the ball that falls in Times Square at midnight to usher in a new year, was a crystal ball that allowed us to look into the future and see what awaits us. But as we begin each new year, the unknown is always just around the corner where we can’t see it.

Perhaps the beauty of New Year’s Eve, is that it gives us a chance to start over. It’s when we make resolutions that we’re going to change our ways. We’re going to lose weight, start exercising, quit smoking, and the list goes on and on. Most of those resolutions quickly end up on the pile of good intentions gone bad.

I know I’ve made resolutions that are forgotten long before all the New Year’s Day parades and football bowl games are history. I’ll have to try and do better this year.

A lot of my friends have had health problems the past year or two. We’re getting older and it becomes even more important to try and stay in shape. I want to lose at least 25 pounds. That would certainly help take some weight off the arthritic hip I’m now dealing with. As someone once said, old age isn’t for sissies.

I’m not a party animal so I’ll leave the New Year’s celebrating to others. If you do go out and celebrate, make sure you have a designated driver or don’t drive. I want you back here next week so we can visit across the fence again. I plan to kick back in my recliner, do some writing, and try to stay awake long enough to watch the ball drop in Times Square. Since we’re on Central Standard time, I know it’s still an hour until “our” midnight, but I usually manage to make it and see if the new year feels any different.

When we were young, my folks never did much celebrating either. Many times, neighbors or relatives were invited to our place or we went to theirs. The adults played Whist or Dirty Clubs (card games), and us kids played Monopoly and tried to stay awake. It seemed like a much bigger deal back then if we could say we saw the New Year in. My cousin, Wayne, was usually with us, and we each tried to gain control of Park Place and Boardwalk so we could put hotels on them. It seems like I ended up going to jail a lot and going past GO and not collecting $200.

I haven’t played Monopoly for a long time now, but maybe I can find our old board back. It must be packed away in boxes we still haven’t opened in the basement, unless we gave it to one of the kids. By the way, we never did finish those Monopoly games we played on New Year’s Eve. When the New Year came, everyone headed for home because there were cows to be milked and chores to be done in a few hours. We put all the pieces and Monopoly money back in the box; where it often stayed until the next New Year’s Eve.

When I think back on those unfinished games, I realize that’s what New Year’s Eve really boils down to. We’ve lived another year and tried to play the game of life to the best of our ability. When the curtain falls on 2010, there will still be a lot of unfinished business, and a lot of things we meant to do but didn’t get done. In this case, we don’t get to box up the pieces and put the game away. As the curtain rises on 2011, we will continue playing. Just like the game of Monopoly, we don’t know how it will turn out. We can try to do everything right, pick the right cards, buy the right properties, and not take too many stupid chances, but sometimes we still get hit with unexpected problems. It has a lot to do with the roll of the dice.

No matter what happens, it boils down to staying in the game and continuing to play, even when the road ahead looks daunting. In life and in Monopoly, I’ve come to the end of some years, and wondered how I was ever going to make it. The mountains for many people seem very big at times. When that mountain looks too big to climb or overcome, instead of giving up, it’s time to look at it as a challenge and find a way to conquer it.

When I was cross-country ski racing, I never looked at how many miles I still had left to the finish or to the top of a steep climb. I concentrated on where I was, how to attack the next hill, and how many miles I had behind me. It’s easier to say, “10 miles down,” instead of “25 miles to go.”

May your New Year be filled with good health, happiness, and wonderful opportunities in life, just like in the game of Monopoly. May you never land on the Go To Jail square, may you find a Free Parking space, and when you pass GO, collect $200.

The curtain is rising on a new year and the journey continues. Have a great one!