Securing 20/20 Vision for 2020

When I think of New Year’s, I think about the concept of time and starting new. So, here are some insights and observations about time. Happy New Year!

“Procrastinators…the leaders of tomorrow.”
“Out of my mind…back in five minutes.”
“Ever stop to think and forget to start again”
“When the clock is hungry, it goes back four seconds.”
“The younger we are the more we want to change the world. The older we are the more we want to change the young.”

“Sometimes, I look down at my watch three consecutive times and still not know what time it is.”
“Finally, there is no worse feeling than that millisecond you’re sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.”
“Today may be the first day of the rest of your life but so was yesterday and look how you messed that up.”
“Troubled times can lead to troubled minds.”

New Year’s is a time when we like to mentally start again, to ring out the old and bring in the new. That’s what the big glass ball coming down in Times Square in New York City is all about. House and Garden magazine wrote an article about a custom the Italians have on New Year’s Eve illustrating the idea of throwing out the old year and what happened in that year and then bringing in the new year.

“As midnight on New Year’s approaches in Italy, the streets are clear. There is no traffic; there are no pedestrians; even the policemen take cover. Then, at the stroke of midnight, the windows of the houses fly open. To the sound of laughter, music, and fireworks, each member of the family pitches out old crockery, detested ornaments, hated furniture and a whole catalog of personal possessions which remind them of something in the past year they want to be wiped out of their minds.” Well, at least they have the concept. Whether it works or not maybe another subject, but those Italians might be on to something here.

Educator Babatunde Olatunji says, “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and what is today? Today is a gift. That’s why they call it, 'the present.'” John R. Rice notes that no matter what a man’s past may have been, his future is spotless. The nicest thing about the future is that it always starts tomorrow. So, don’t wait for the perfect moment, take the moment and make it perfect. Or better said, though no one can go back and make a brand-new beginning, anyone can start from now and make a brand-new ending.

Last year was not a good one for many people. Most people go into a new year believing and carrying the same stuff that made their old year underachieve. Let’s start new again. In order to start new, we need to think differently in order to see differently. We need 20/20 vision in both our thinking and seeing(assessing) to have a better 2020. Let us illustrate seeing differently with this story of three engineers.

Three engineering students were discussing the possible designers of the human body. One said, “It was a mechanical engineer. Just look at all the joints.” Another said, “No, it was an electrical engineer. The nervous system has many thousands of electrical connections.” The last one said, “No, actually it had to be a civil engineer. Who else would run a toxic waste pipeline through a recreational area?” Now there is a different way of looking at anatomy…and life.

Let me conclude with six little stories that are a different set of glasses to view the world through, giving us 20/20 vision in seeing the future more positively and accurately. These concepts, if applied, can lift a person to new heights, new realms, and new dimensions. These concepts are a different way of seeing. They can take a sad song and make it better.

(1). Once all the villagers decided to pray for rain. On the day of their prayers, all the people gathered, but only one boy came with an umbrella. That’s faith.
(2). When you playfully throw babies in the air, they laugh because they know you will catch them. That’s trust.
(3). Every night we go to bed without any assurance of being alive the next morning, but still, we set the alarm to wake up. That’s hope.
(4). We plan big things for tomorrow, despite little knowledge of the future. That is confidence.
(5). We see the world suffering, but still, we get married and have children. That’s love.
(6). On an old man’s shirt was written a sentence, “I am not 80 years old; I am sweet 16 with 64 years of experience.” That’s attitude.

There you go, eyes with faith, trust, hope, confidence, love, and an uplifting attitude can move us from unfocused or focused on a tough 2019, to 20/20 vision for 2020.

 Samuel Johnson once said, “The future is purchased by the present.” So, let’s learn from the past, live in the present, so we can excel in the future.

Did you know that God can give you a new start too? “Therefore. if anyone is in Christ that they are a new creature; the old has passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2 Cor. 5:17). And, that’s the happiest New Year of all.