New Years is the time for contemplation on the falls and the gains. The problem is that the gains don’t seem to matchup as well as I would like them to. At a quarter century, you should be going in the right direction. “Always forward” as Pops from Luke Cage would say. I think time follows that same logic, unwilling to stop and contemplate the same way that humanity does on every cold 31^st of December amidst the numbing effects of the wind and the alcohol. It should be about the triumphs of the past year, the new friends earned, the new jobs taken, the accomplishments. It should be a time to let go of the hurt. The hurts that hurt in the past year are old news and can be released the same way one would let go of an old sweater at the Salvation Army. It’s that initial fear of that drop of the beloved sweater, that determination to override your hesitating fingers. It falls deep into the metal box, making no sound, no regretful plunk that resonates in you that you’ve made a mistake. No, once it’s out of sight you remember that you haven’t worn it in three years anyways. It had holes in it. You can buy a new sweater now. Sure, it meant a lot to you but once the decision to move on has been made the healing of a new, warmer sweater from Target presents itself. Your body needs the warmth after all. This is New Years Eve. A day too often mired in regret, weighed down by expectations, smothered by unfulfilled potential. Everyone has triumphed, even just a little, and it is these small triumphs that we should hold onto, the letting goes which are not a loss but a fortitude of mind that is necessary for change. The sweater has a new place to be and so do you. So go! Drink a little too much, defy the expectations and sit on a rock by yourself as the cackling of drunk thirty-year-olds pierce the night. Or have a quite night with friends. Not every triumph is extravagant with a party and a wine-tinged kiss at midnight. And if it is, by all means hold on to that, because moments are as hard to get back as your old sweater buried deep in metal boxes.