THE WINDING ROAD

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22000, 5 January 1935, Page 6 (Supplement)

THE WINDING ROAD

WHAT LIES AHEAD?

NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS

BY JOYCE MILLAR

We break new seas to-day, Our eager keels quest unaccustomed Waters, Bringing us Life. . . . Life on a bounding tide.

And chance of glorious deeds, Of help swift-borne to drowning mariners, Of cheer to ships dismasted in the gale. —John Oxenham.

Gaily we have just turned over a fcrand new leaf —in our diaries and in our hearts. Restless fingers smooth

down tho white untroubled pages of January, 1935. Tho old year, with all its doubt and misgiving and error, has slipped into tho vague silent grey of the past. We remepiber, with a touch of sentiment perhaps, the days we have loved, all the year's little happinesses; and we feel tenderly toward the dear old year. The rest is forgotten. The rest is forgotten! All the failures of 1934, all its weariness and wasted energy, all the resolutions made a year ago (and broken so shortly after!). Ring down tho curtain! All the debris will be cleared away, expelled as if by magic, and our mental " stage " will stand swept and clean, ready for tho denouement of the very young New Year. Here is a fresh start and a new beginning. There is about it the same happy enthusiasm that childhood remembers upon starting a new term at school with a brand new pencil-case and unmarred copybook. The exciting " new " smell of the pages made one long' to be good this term, never to talk or fidget or make blots. Alas, that

air of concentrated virtue invariably faded before many days had elapsed; and now that one has grown up the spirit is still willing but the flesh regrettably weak In. the Antipodes we miss the glamour of England's traditional Yuletide with its holly and snow and red robins, but we have a very great compensation in our New Year's Day. England's typical New Year breaks cold and grey and blind with snow—not altogether conducive to bursts of impetuous enthusiasm on the subject of early rising and cold showers, or other things, for that matter. On grey days one rarely turns over a new leaf, but in New Zealand we awake (usually!) to a New Year of bird !>ongs and happy summer seas, perfume of flowers, golden glow of ripening fruit and a "realisation of the complete fulness of all the earth. Is it any wonder that our hearts leap in appreciation, that we have within us an intense desire to be worthy of it all, to x begin afresh? Take Thought Before You Act The daily round is so tremendously burdened with,material things that we have little time, most of us, for introspection, yet before we can set our sails for the coming year we are compelled to indulge in a little serious thought. A grave accusation was made against us recently by an eminent English psychologist during the course of his lectures here. " You people in New Zealand.," he said,_. " never do any silent thinking. You think out loud or write to the newspapers about it! " He was right; not for New Zealand alone, however; the lack of ability to introspect is far more general than- that. We are eager to put forth green leaves of self-expression and impulse and new resolution without looking first of all to the white roots of our understanding, which have never had a real chance to grow. In as in many other things, we are gravely lacking in a sense of balance. The summer of fruition which we are enjoying at this moment should teach us at least one moral lesson. All through the barren winter the trees made ready. We see the leafy shade of summer; perhaps we are apt to forget the long fallow period of preparation when the busy life of the tree went on—silently. There is so much bluster about us, so much superficiality. If we gave a little more quiet thought to the planning of- our lives ere we so impulsively put forth our resolutions their green leaves would not so soon lie shaken and tumbling at our feet.

Character to Back Resolutions The New Year! It is a song unsung, a melody unknown. It may be unhurried, full of birds' songs and quiet dreaming. It will have passages of phantasy, light and beautiful, ,chords of vibrant harmony, pauses of peace, and at times the music of it may burst forth wild and tempestuous, storm-tossed diapasons. It is a winding road that our feet have not yet followed. The first lap beckons enticingly. It is sunbright and beautiful and in the far distance, almost obscuring vision, the air quivers in a haze of mystery. Possibly the green shade we distinguish beyond is a mirage . . . The road may wind a long, long -way, but there will be unexpected dips of respite, into gentle valleys of peace. We shall make new friends on the road, gather conrage and inspiration from onr fellow travellers and share new delights with them. Good resolutions are but playful puffs of an impish breeze unless they have the strength of a character behind them.. Then and then only will they move each little craft aright and guide it happy and content into c:ie safe haven of the close of 1935 —proud of its efforts, if not of great achievoments, proud of another stage completed iu a worth while journey.