The promises you make and the traditions you follow Happy New Years!

31 Dec The promises you make and the traditions you follow Happy New Years!

Christmas is officially over for another year.  As always, we survived and have so much to be thankful for – except maybe the return lines for that sweater that just doesn’t have your name on it or the credit card bills that will arrive in the mail long before we are ready.   But thankfully, the “Elf on the Shelf “has returned home to the North Pole for another year (and parents everywhere are breathing a collective sigh of relief that they once again this year met the most difficult challenge in keeping the Elf magical for their children) presents have been opened, stockings have been dismantled literally and figuratively and now we begin to look forward to another new year.

This is the time of the year when many of us make promises to change, do something differently, get healthier, eat better or less, be more adventurous, be kinder and more thoughtful of others, be more patient with our children or our parents, save more money, volunteer, find new love or just be nicer to the ones we love.  It is the time of hope and renewal when we can turn over the proverbial leaf and start over.  Oprah Winfrey probably said it best… “The New Year is a time for us to get it right” – or least try one more time.

There are plenty of traditions all over the world that people religiously follow to ring in the new year ranging from counting down the last minutes of the year watching the Ball drop in New York’s Time Square, to eating all sorts of unusual foods, to toasting with the bubbly or wearing of brightly colored underwear to influence good luck and prosperity in the new year.  This last one is pretty crazy but may be worth a shot.  They say if you are interested in prosperity and success don some yellow ones, for love and romance of course wear red and slip into some green undies for good health.

Food traditions are always intriguing.  In Japan and China, it is believed that if you consume soba noodles at midnight you are ensured longevity and a healthful life.  Eating 12 grapes – one for each month of the new year, will bring you luck while eating cornbread could bring you fortune.  And in the South, a tradition dating back to the American Civil War, eating black eyes peas or Hoppin’ John (a traditional soul food) since they are said to resemble a coin and will ensure prosperity.  However, if you ever find one of those peas that actually look like a coin, please take a picture and send it to me because I honestly just don’t see it.  And, just so you know – the two foods you should not eat on New Year’s Day are chicken and turkey because they are sure to bring you bad luck since they scratch backwards!!!

Whatever promises you make or traditions that you follow or new ones you decide to try (like the colorful underwear) I hope the new year brings you much happiness and good fortune.  We’d love to hear your traditions, so please send them in and join us on one of our new tours coming the first of next year in Tampa!