New Year’s Resolutions are Goals; White Doves Symbolize Hope

By: Veronica Leighton

 

New Year’s Resolutions that we pray for, wish for, and long for to happen to our lives, our loved ones’ lives, and even for the world are actually our GOALS. Almost everyone does it to welcome the new year.

Without even doing a polling, I know that HOPE tops the list for our goals/resolutions, which, of course, includes optimism and faith (after a sad year 2020 of doom and gloom, hopelessness and pessimism) .

What is HOPE? Merriam Dictionary of Hope, “desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment”. As human beings, we are raised to always have faith and hope, and likewise teach and show others to do so, instead of losing hope in pursuit of our aims and interests in this world we live in. In other word, not to give up in life.

Personally speaking for the new year, I want to share the precious symbol of hope that I have in my life. I always look at the little white dove friend of mine (in photo, sometimes there are two of them) that visits our tiny balcony garden in the summer when the weather is nice. White doves are always associated with peace, harmony, kindness, devotion, and love, and it’s the Christian spiritual symbolism for the Holy Spirit. Doves are also very much associated with lovers, and some couples have white doves released when they celebrate their weddings, a wedding custom observed particularly in the Philippines.

My dove friend’s visit this year in the midst of winter, around the holidays, was something that really gave me hope for the new year 2021. Will my prayers, resolutions and goals in life still have hope? After the gloom and doom that were tossed to us our lives for 2020?

So, our dear readers, advertisers and friends, CHEERS to all for a hopeful, faithful, and joyful 2021! Our prayers for hope, optimism and bright future should also be our ultimate goals. Our editorial on this same page says so, titled, “From Chaos to Hope,” by editorialist Joe Mauricio. We are in this together!

We are In this together can also mean that as Via Times’s constant readers, we have been together for almost forty years now. For this special maiden issue for 2021, enjoy reading, as usual, your favorite VT columnists who are all greeting you through their special holiday columns. Enjoy reading and stay hopeful and cheerful through the years!

VT’s Veronica and Joe Mauricio wishing our readers, advertisers and friends a wonderful and hopeful 2021

Our friendly white dove friend visiting in the midst of winter.

Our white dove friend in the summertime, always giving us hope in life.