Sunbonnet Soliloquy

By Jewell Ellen Smith

Things to Forget - or Remember

Roman mythology had it that the ancient god Janus possessed one head with two faces. With one set of eyes he looked forward to where he was going, with the other he gazed backward at where he had been.

Old Janus was believed to be the god of beginnings, openings, entrances, doorways, and endings. He was thought to be something like a super janitor in the heavens, the fellow who opened the gates each morning to let out the day and closed them again each evening when darkness came to bring the night.

The Romans of old times therefore decided -- when they revised their calendar in about 250 B.C. -- to name the first month of their year “January.”

Now that we have our new January, 1980 with us, plus the beginning of a brand new decade, let’s use it as a time for looking forward and backward. We can pretend we’re like old Janus with two eyes that can behold the past and two that can see the future. No crystal ball necessary!

Seriously, if you stop to think about it, each of us would be foolish not to take out a bit of time and reflect on what we have done and what has happened to us in the Seventies and then forget the bad things and cherish the good things; and, go on from there into the Eighties.

Here are three things to forget:

(1) Mistakes. What’s done is done. It can’t be helped now. So don’t worry anymore about it. Worrying is a waste of energy, time, thought. And, while you’re at it, you might just forget the mistakes your family and friends made!

(2) Time you wasted. In the decade that has just slipped by, you, along with every other living creature, had 3,652 days. Multiply that by 24 and you’ll know exactly how many hours you had. You slept away one third of the hours, and it could be you didn’t use the others to best advantage. But you cannot recall one minute, much less an hour or a day or a year; so, let it be.

(3) Your failures. Henry Ford and Ilka Chase each had the right idea about failure. He said: “Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again.” She said: “The only people who never fail are those who never try.” Enough said.

Now what about those things to look for with your pair of Janus eyes turned toward the new decade?

Look for these three things:

(1) The good in yourself. It’s there, in great measure. Put into action your better impulses. Walk straight and unafraid.

(2) Things to do for others. Offer a smile, a kind word, a sympathetic ear. All people have problems -- of one sort or another -- in every decade. In helping others with their burdens you will feel your own become lighter.

(3) The beauty which surrounds you. Beauty is everywhere. And your need for it is as great as your need for food. It has been said that we become what we eat. We also become what we see.

Beauty in the earth is the gift of God. He could have made the whole world stark, flat, drab, ugly. But he did not. He put in color. Mountains. Valleys. Rivers, Oceans. Flowers. Trees.... He filled the universe with beauty, heaped up, packed down, and running over! Beauty is here for the finding.

If the Roman myth about Janus were true, the old fellow would be obliged during the Eighties to open up the gates of the heavens 3,652 more times to let out the days and then close the gates 3,652 more times as darkness brought the nights. And all the while he would be looking forward and backward.

Well, you will get along all right without that mythological two-faced gateman. During the 1980’s your 3,653 days will come, as arranged by the One God. Make the best of them. Look away from all that is evil. Gaze only at what is good!

Published January 1980. Press your browser’s ‘Back’ button to return.