2004 Soap Box Archives

Thoughts on the New Year 12/26/04

Here we go again, barrelling into another new year, which seems to happen with ever increasing regularity when one crosses the sixty threshold.

Of course the first day of each year is just another day in our lives. But it always conjures up thoughts and aspirations of things we would like to change in our lives, and it seems that a fresh year is a good time for fresh beginnings.

This year, I am not going to make resolutions but simply think about the things in my life that I would like to alter in one way or another to hopefully make me a better person.

I have learned some very profound things in the last 68 years. I have left a lot of things undone and done some that I wish I had left undone. Like everybody else, I have spent a lot of time worrying about things that really don’t matter in the long run.

And I have let things slip that have had a lasting effect on my life.

I need to get my priorities in order, and that’s what I would like to concentrate on as I think of 2005.

Fame, wealth, possessions and power mean absolutely nothing. When viewed in an eternal context. only one thing matters and that is my relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ, so therefore I desire to be a better Christian.

Hazel is the most important person in the world to me. She has stayed by my side through lean and troubled times, and I love her with all my heart. So I want to be a better husband.

My son, who has brought us the sunshine and happiness that only having and raising a child can bring, is grown now, but he still needs to know the love, stability and support of a loving father, so I want to be a better daddy.

My grandson, who is only seven years old, has a lot of slippery road to travel and many, many lessons that I would like to help him learn. I want to be a better grandfather.

My employees are loyal and devoted. Many of them have been here for 25 or 30 years. They watch out for my interests and take incredible care of me. They are the best, so I’d like to be a better boss.

I have devoted my professional life to the creation and performance of music, and I have learned that there will never be a time in my life when there won’t be another passage to be perfected, another scale to be practiced, another song to be written. I sincerely desire to be a better musician and entertainer.

I am a man who takes friendship seriously. I know what good and loyal friends are and have some in my life. I would like to become a better friend.

I want to have the courage to stand against what I think is wrong and for what I think is right, no matter if my beliefs are not popular.

I want to be sensitive to the needs of the poor, sympathetic to the plight of the downtrodden and an enemy of injustice in whatever form it may take.

There is a prayer which is learned by the members of Alcoholics Anonymous which I think sums up a lot of the feelings I have this new year.

It goes, ”God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

From all of The CDB and Twin Pines Ranch family, Happy New Year.

Pray for our troops.

What do you think?

God Bless America,

Charlie Daniels