NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS

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Before you decide to make new year resolutions, you should consider the odds of achieving them.

Dreaming of dropping one clothing size, learning how to play Cello or speaking Chinese Mandarin.
The following are some statistics to consider. From the nearly half of us who make New Year’s resolutions, about one third will fail after two weeks; 40 percent will fail after one month and 60 percent will fail after six months.

The following are some of the things you may wish to stop and then start taking care of yourself.

WISH FOR HUMANITY

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Dear World-

If it isn't too late, let's hope and pray that all people will begin to speak kind words, to be committed to their family and friends, to use their hands for helping and not for hurting,

Let's make an effort to evolve into human beings who laugh with joy and delight and not mockery, who love unconditionally, and who do not resort to bullying others.

Our world faces a formidable hurdle if we want to restore a new and improved climate of trust, peace, goodwill, respect and equality towards all men, women, children and all living things.

PREPARE FOR BEST AND WORST

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This is the time of the year when everywhere you look, there is a list of best or worst of the year.

There will be many opportunities to look back at the worst moments, or the best memories list.

To show and tell and get you started, here is YouTube...

http://bestofyoutube.com

SHARE YOUR FAVORITE MOMENTS

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Did you reflect on all your blessings this Christmas? Have you received everything you needed?
Were you able to spend time or speak with someone special and tell them you love them?
Please, share with us what was that favorite present waiting for you under the tree.

Please feel free to share with City Island Images. However, if you did not get all the gifts that you were expecting, this is probably the best time to get the best deals and lowest prices on those items that were probably overpriced to begin with.

HOLY NIGHT

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Pope Francis has ushered in his first Christmas as pontiff, likening Jesus' birth to a burst of light on the sometimes dark moments of human history, marked by pride and ambition.

The 77-year-old Francis celebrated Christmas Eve Mass late Tuesday in St. Peter's Basilica, returning to rest in his Vatican lodgings barely 12 hours before he was due to return to the basilica.

At noon (1100 GMT) Wednesday, Francis was scheduled to deliver a traditional Christmas day message meant for a worldwide audience. Tens of thousands of tourists and Romans are expected to gather in St. Peter's Square for his speech and blessing delivered from the central balcony of the basilica.

At the Tuesday night Christmas service, Francis drew on the humility theme of his nine-month-old papacy as he cited Jesus' humble beginning as a poor and vulnerable baby. "You are immense, and you made yourself small; you are rich, and you made yourself poor; you are all-powerful and you made yourself vulnerable," Francis said of Jesus as he delivered his homily in the basilica, packed with the faithful.

CHRISTMAS CHEERS OVER THE YEARS

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On Christmas Day many people participate in events to help them enjoy their holiday. They eat drink, be merry and take their loved ones out to see Christmas lights.

It’s Christmas, that means it is the season for spending time with family and opening presents. This year we also took them to see the Wonderland of Lights downtown.

Several families were spreading Christmas cheer to many this year by showcasing their elaborate light display. But it is more than just a draw for community members. These family members won ABC's Great Christmas Light Fight and received thousands of dollars.

TODAY IS CHRISTMAS DAY

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Christmas is a sacred religious holiday, a global cultural and a commercial phenomenon. For many years, people all over the world have been observing Christmas with traditions and practices that are religious and secular in nature.

Christians celebrate Christmas Day as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, a spiritual leader whose teachings form the basis of this religion. Popular customs include exchanging presents, Christmas trees, attending religious services, sharing meals with family and friends and waiting for Santa Claus to arrive.

YES VIRGINIA... THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS

Today, City Island Images visited with 80 year old Virginia G and her so-called children at Pilot Cove. This got us thinking....

Once upon a time, eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York's Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history's most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps.

"DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
"Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
"Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'
"Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

"VIRGINIA O'HANLON.
"115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET."

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

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DREAMING OF A WHITE CHRISTMAS?

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For a while, it looked like our dreams could have come through... City Islanders, News Yorkers and perhaps residents of the entire area and our families were dreaming of a " White Christmas " with snowflakes falling on the region.

Weather forecasters were predicting: SNOW SQUALLS WILL IMPACT BRONX...EASTERN BERGEN...FAIRFIELD...NEW YORK CITY... MANHATTAN...NORTHEASTERN ORANGE...NORTHERN NASSAU...PUTNAM... QUEENS...ROCKLAND...SUFFOLK...WESTCHESTER AND WESTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTIES.

But City Island received just a little dusting of the white stuff. But enjoy the following nevertheless.

NYC PRESS SAYS FAREWELL TO MAYOR

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NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg held his last Christmas Party for NYC Press Corps at Gracie Mansion last night. Bloomberg took time to remind journalists of his accomplishments and once again re stated that he loves New York City and plans to live here forever. There was no mention of his Bermuda home.

City Island Images Executive Editor Roberto Soto was one of the journalists who was invited for a photo opportunity with his honor.

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