Here is 2021, a New Year! The promise of new beginnings, new adventures, new challenges!

Maybe…

Well, I’ve just spent the last 2 weeks at my dad. My now usual but great way to end the year, in what felt this year a particularly safe environment. As usual, it has been exhausting as we just always have too much to do but renovation of bike number 2 is progressing nicely, so yeah!!

My partner cooked for us some delicious vegan delicatessen for both Christmas and New Year and that was a blessing. By New Year eve, I was tired and slightly in pain from too much sanding and too much mechanic! Yet, extremely happy to be there, to get to admire the last full moon of the year and just be in my bubble.

Soon came the required New Year wishes and the struggle to phrase them. With a friend there, we discussed at length and concluded we shouldn’t keep the usual “Bonne Année” but limit our expectation to a “Meilleure Année“. In French we usually wish for a ‘good’ New Year, but this year it felt that just a ‘slightly better’ one was already a great wish. I went along as it was a funny conversation but as I’ve mentioned before, 2020 wasn’t bad for me so I really can’t complain.

Anyway, after talking with relatives, friends, neighbors etc. it all became too clear, that this year wishes were dull and even awkward at times. I couldn’t wait for it to stop.

But then, a friend sent me the link to the below song as her New Year wishes and it made my heart sparkle! It made me happy!

OK, it probably isn’t the greatest song of all times, but somehow, the lyrics resonated with me and I thought those were the absolute best wishes I had ever received.

So here is the song and my wishes to you, for this New Year!

(Below the video, I inserted the lyrics in French and a translation in English.)

 

Gregoire – Je te souhaite une Bonne Année

Je te souhaite une Bonne Année, remplie d’amour, remplie de rêves  
Et surtout de la santé, de la tendresse sans trêve. 
Je te souhaite d’être heureux et si tu l’es, de le rester. 
Je te souhaite tout le mieux, que ton cœur puisse imaginer. 
 
Je te souhaite de réussir à réaliser l’impossible.  
Oui, tu peux y parvenir car rien, non, n’est inaccessible. 
Je te souhaite de te rendre compte de la chance qu’on a d’être là, 
De te dire qu’au bout du compte, on se plaint un peu trop parfois. 
 
Je te souhaite une Bonne Année, remplie d’amour, remplie de rêves. 
Et surtout de la santé, de la tendresse sans trêve. 
Je te souhaite de l’amitié, de l’affection, de la douceur. 
Oui je te souhaite de partager, car à plusieurs, tout est meilleur. 
 
Je te souhaite de l’indulgence, pour ceux qui voient à moitié vide, pour ceux qui n’ont pas cette chance, d’avoir l’espoir au creux du bide. 
 
Je te souhaite un hiver doux, un printemps gonflé de promesses, un été où l’on se fout de tout, un automne teinté d’allégresse. 
 
Je te souhaite une Bonne Année, remplie d’amour, remplie de rêves 
Et surtout de la santé, de la tendresse sans trêve. 
Je te souhaite de la compassion, pour tous ceux qui te font du mal. 
Car un jour, oui, ils comprendront que c’est à eux qu’ils font du mal. 
 
Je te souhaite de pardonner et d’éviter toute la colère, de ceux qui ne savent que rejeter leur malheur sur la terre entière. 
Je te souhaite la légèreté, de te dire que la vie est belle, de ne plus t’accrocher au passé, à sa plainte sempiternelle. 
 
Je te souhaite une Bonne Année, remplie d’amour, remplie de rêves
Et surtout de la santé, de la tendresse sans trêve. 
Je te souhaite de la magie dans le moindre de tes projets. 
D’apercevoir qu’au-dessus des pluies, le soleil continue de briller. 
 
Je te souhaite de savoir qu’à force d’être négatif, on n’arrive plus jamais à voir le bon côté, le positif. 
Je te souhaite de ne jamais remettre à demain, à plus tard, pour ne jamais réaliser, que ça y est, maintenant, c’est trop tard. 
 
Je te souhaite une Bonne Année, remplie d’amour, remplie de rêves
Et surtout de la santé, de la tendresse sans trêve...
 

And here is a translation attempt. Some phrases may sound a little weird as some things do not translate that well. Some may sound cheesy. It doesn’t rhyme anymore, oh well…

I wish you a Happy New Year, filled with love, filled with dreams 
And above all with health, and endless tenderness. 
I wish you to be happy and if you are, to stay that way. 
 
I wish you all the best that your heart can imagine. 
I wish you success in achieving the impossible. 
Yes, you can do it because nothing, no, is inaccessible. 
I wish you to realize how lucky we are to be here, to tell you that at the end of the day, we complain a little too much sometimes. 
 
I wish you a Happy New Year, filled with love, filled with dreams 
And above all with health, and endless tenderness. 
I wish you friendship, affection and gentleness. 
Yes, I wish you to share, because together, everything is better. 
 
I wish you indulgence, for those who see the glass half empty, for those who do have the luck, to have hope in the pit of their belly. 
 
I wish you a mild winter, a spring full of promises, a careless summer and an autumn filled with joy. 
 
I wish you a Happy New Year, filled with love, filled with dreams 
And above all with health, and endless tenderness. 
I wish you compassion, for all those who harm you. 
Because one day, yes, they will understand that they are hurting themselves. 
I wish you to forgive and to avoid all the anger, of those who only know how to cast their misfortune on the whole Earth. 
I wish you lightness, to tell you that life is good, to no longer cling to the past, to its never-ending complaint. 
 
I wish you a Happy New Year, filled with love, filled with dreams 
And above all with health, and endless tenderness. 
I wish you magic in all your projects. To see that above the rains, the sun continues to shine. 
I wish you to know that by being negative, you never get to see the bright side, the positive again. 
I wish you to never procrastinate until later, never to realize, that this is it, now, it is too late. 
 
I wish you a Happy New Year, filled with love, filled with dreams 
And above all with health, and endless tenderness…

 

Bonne Année!

*****

Please note that I’m not trying to be insensitive to the people who have suffered greatly this year. People who have lost someone dear, or maybe lost their job, people who are struggling to make ends meet. People who have suffered emotionally, people who feel lonely…

For many, 2020 isn’t a year they are going to miss and countless articles are out there already to tell us that 2020 was a horrible year. There are a few that remind us, that all wasn’t bad, too few of them I would say.

And then there are already so many articles on how this New Year isn’t going to be magically different than the last one. How we are still in a pandemic and for a lot of us in lockdown, or some sort of lockdown. So many pieces on how to cope…

With this song, I just wanted to share some positive vibes hoping it will make you as happy as it made me, even if for just a few minutes.