I find when I call changes I’d like to make in the coming year, resolutions, they never pan out.

But a promise, after all, is a promise, even if it’s only to yourself.

I’ve decided, I’m going to be happier.

To quote Abraham Lincoln…

Most people are as about as happy as they make up their minds to be.

I find this a very practical point of view and glad Abe and I conferred. When you meditate, by the way, you never know who’ll pop up.

I’ve always had a melancholy chord, an F-sharp if you will, that has never left me. It’s why many people, places and things affect me so much.

My heart is like flypaper.

And so was Abe’s, by the way. I know what you’re thinking. Here comes another history lesson.

You’re right, since, Abe was melancholy too.

His mom died when he was very young, left with a dad not exactly the Mike Brady of men, who actually rented Abe out as a worker profiting from his brawn.

I love the word brawn, meaning, physical strength. Abe was 6’4 after all, and became, among other things, our tallest President.

One of the things he always remembered was seeing a slave auction, watching families being sold, separated for life, like faceless cattle, an image that never left him.

If you look at pictures of him, it’s hard to believe he was only 56 when he was shot on Good Friday, 1865, dying four days later.

His heart must have been the size of the whole state of Illinois, his final resting place. But despite a sad, sensitive demeanor, he always kept his sense of humor, telling stories, or yarns as they were called in his day.

His attempt to cheer Mary, his wife, who we now think was bipolar, her erratic behavior a mystery in their day, was an ongoing tribute to his tender, tireless vigilance.

So, on the eve of a brand new decade, on behalf of Abe, who’s better angels were cut short in mid flight, I’ve made up my mind to be happy, because if Mr. Lincoln, with all he had on his mind could, well, so can I. 

Happy New Year everyone!

SB