It’s a New Year! It’s the time when Aussies come together in January to celebrate the good things their homeland has to offer them. Some mark the day by having a barbecue lunch with family and friends. Others participate in official citizenship ceremonies that acknowledge new arrivals who want to call Australia home. Most of all, the occasion celebrates the hope that the year ahead will be a happy one – filled with continued peace, health and prosperity for everyone – ourselves, our family and friends included. So how do you have a happy New Year – one that’s good for your health?
GIVE THANKS
At the start of a year it’s important to give thanks for the good already received – both on a personal level, as well as collectively as a nation. In this way, we utilize the blessings we have and are ready to receive more. Such gratitude promotes happiness at home, school and work. It makes the wheels of daily life turn more smoothly by encouraging everyone to pull together, to share ideas and learn from each other.
TIP:
– Take time to be thankful that we “live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest” Bible Isaiah 32:18 – in a country that is at peace with itself and its neighbours. Being thankful lifts our spirits and improves our health.
– Appreciate how new arrivals enrich the tapestry of our ideas, culture, food, life-style, fashion, and industry.
– Offer words of appreciation to others. This fosters happy, beneficial contacts between all ages, and between old and new Australians.
– Make an effort to get along with people who are different. Refuse to be critical. “Tones of the human mind may be different, but they should be concordant in order to blend properly. Unselfish ambition, noble life-motives, and purity, — these constituents of thought, mingling, constitute individually and collectively true happiness, strength, and permanence”. – Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health p.58
– Be glad. Don’t be a complainer. Remember, “Our gratitude is riches, complaint is poverty. Our trials bloom in blessings, they test our constancy. O, life from joy is minted, an everlasting gold. True gladness is the treasure that grateful hearts will hold”. – W. Harold Ferguson
– Be generous. “Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it”. – Mary Baker Eddy Science and Health p. 57:18
– So go ahead! This January, give thanks. Have a happy New Year. It’s good for your health.
This article has been published on Motherpedia. Read more by me on Motherpedia…
Also published in the January edition of the Around Point Cook community newspaper in print and online via Issuu.

It’s December. The countdown is on. Excitement is building. The pace is quickening. Life is getting hectic. There’s end-of-school activities, office parties, Christmas break-ups, and holiday plans to make; not to mention, shopping, gift wrapping, mailing items, putting up the decorations, cooking and preparing for the all-important family Christmas dinner. With so much to do – especially for Mums, it can take the shine off this happy festive season. Yet it’s possible to maintain the sparkle of joyous anticipation, remain stress-free, and really enjoy Christmas. What’s more it’s good for your health.
It’s officially Spring! A time when the days warm up, our gardens bloom, new leaves form, and trees burst into blossom. It’s the season when we don those new Spring fashions, try out fresh Spring colours, and generally emerge from our cocoons. Spring is also a good time to throw off what Shakespeare calls the “winter of our discontent”, and engage in some life-invigorating Spring cleaning for the heart and mind. So here’s how to Spring clean now. What’s more, it’s good for your health.
Be encouraging! Everyone likes to do well. And while we don’t seek applause for being a caring parent, or a hard worker, or just plain doing a good job in life, receiving someone’s praise and encouragement can give us a much needed lift. It can help us keep going when we’re feeling down, or when life is hectic or times are tough. That’s why it’s important for us to be encouraging of ourselves, and each other. It’s good for our health.
It’s Winter! Time to enjoy cosy fires, hot drinks, warm clothes, snuggling up in bed, and even trips to the snow. However, colder, shorter days may result in the winter blues, anxiety over one’s health, and worry about the best ways to keep the family well. When such winter-time-concerns set in, it’s time to take action. So, turn-up your mental heat. Beat the winter blues! It’s good for your health.