The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1936-01-02
RING IN THE NEW YEAR,

RING IN THE NEW YEAR!
Ring out the Old Year, ring in
the New! We have just recorded the
last acts of the last chapter of the
the year 1885, and new scroll is
being unrolled before us. The year
book of 1885 is closed-we cannot
erase and we cannot efface any of
those recorded deeds, be they good
or bad. On the eve of the New Year
the question naturally arises: How
are we going to fill the pages of the
year 1886? Are we going to make
it better year, or are we going in
the same old rut? We can with high
hopes and firm faith in ourselves
and our God, resolve to make this
the best and the most worthwhile
year we have ever lived, and we
can do it-at least we can make an
effort.
So quietly 50 silently the old year
stole out and the. new year slipped
in-the change would have come
unperceived had not the bells rang
out, through the frosty air and over
the glistening SNOW; TO- remind us
the Old Year was dying and the
New Year was being ushered in. AS
we life the curtain and peer into
the future, we wonder just what the
New Year has in store for us-al-
ways the clouds seen at a distance
if there be: any on the: horizon
have a silver lining. AS we look
may each of us ponder in our hearts
how we may begin and live through
this present year, in such a manner
as to make it better and happier
year.
At this season, as you enter the
stores and business houses every
where. you will see the manager
and employees busily engaged in
taking lnventories of the stock on
hand and making an estimate, as
accurate as possible, of the business
done during the past year-with a
view of improving the business
during the coming year.
So I am putting to myself the
fundamental important question:
What did I get out of life last year?
What am I likely to get out of life
this New Year? How can improve
my ways of living and live fuller
life and be a greater blessing to my
self, my home, my church, my
school, my community, my State
and my Nation? If a person can ask
himself more momentous question
] would like to know what it is.
There is an egotistic streak in hui
man nature which prevents us from
accepting ready-made answers. I
must take an inventory of my own
life and answer these questions by
the acts of my life. Deeds not words
speak. The singular thing is that so
few people put the question to
themselves in time, that so many
put it so late, or even die without
putting it. A great proportion of my
fellow creatures not only omit to
strike the balance sheet Of their
lives, but they omit even to take
stock .>*
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:. Friends and comrades, am about
to impart> to you the very essence
of human wisdom as regards human
life. Life today is much more real
than that which you will be living
10. or 20 years, hence. Grasp this
truth and IYe!. You search for hap
piness. Happiness is chiefly a mat
ter of disposition and temperament.
It is exceedingly improbable that
you viii by striving gain more hap
piness in the future than you pos
sess at present. Vain is hope and in
glorious ambition, so perceive the
folly of neglecting to live at the
present, vain1y hoping that the flu
ture can be essentially different
from the present. Let us live and
enjoy the New Year 1886 to the
fullest.