CHRISTMAS IS PAST

Northern Advocate, 29 December 1934, Page 15

CHRISTMAS IS PAST

THOUGHTS FOR THE NEW YEAR REMEMBER YOUR GOOD RESOLUTION. Dear Northlandcrs, Christmas Day with its roast turkey ami plum puddings is past, but New Year draws nigh. Of the two festivals I think that most people prefer Christmas; yet New Year has a significance all its own. There is something inspirational in setting off from a new starting point. You all knew how tiring it is to run a long race. By the time the tape is reached one feels weary and exhausted—disheartened, sometimes if there are others in the lead; yet in shorter races one is always ready to try again even if one has been bested in a px*evious event. It is just that way with the years I think. If we had to live the whole of our lives without some point from which to start afresh, things would be so disheartening at times that some at any rate would feel like giving up the struggle. There is a scheme of things planned for the benefit of each one of us, and sc we find our year full of new starting points. There is our birthday, for instance; again we have a fresh start when we begin school, or when we enter college, and later again when we commence work. But the best starting point of all is New Year’s Day. As such it has been recognised for hundreds of years; so much so, in fact, that January 1 has come to be known as Resolution Day. People, finding that they had slipped into careless habits during the year, decided that if they resolved to overcome their faults during the year just commenced, it would help them to become better men and women, and perhaps would make the world a happier place to live in. And in three days’ time another New Year’s Day will he dawning—the commencement of 365 days which we can fill with happiness or sorrow as we choose. As Chief of the Northland tribe, it is my duty and privilege to address my warriors on all maimer of subjects, and a harangue is Useless unless it contains something that will help the listeners —inspire them perhaps. Let this, then, be the message that my New Year’s harangue contains: try each one of you to above all make others happy; look wide, so you will not be trapped into mistaking some shallow form of pleasure for true happiness. Make up your minds to train yourselves to become good and true citizens; prepare yourselves for the work by which you will later earn your daily bread: and though the task be hard, always maintain a cheerful countenance, for your smiles will lighten the lives of others every bit as much as they will bring you contentment. To maidens and warriors near and far I send my best wishes for a happy and prosperous New Year filled with all the things that are worth having. KUPE, Rangatira, , Northland Tribe.