I sit on the couch and watch the gray clouds spread across the sky on this winter day and contemplate the end of another year. What should I get out the exercise of thinking back over the months passed or anticipating the calendar turn as I go from 2011 to 2012? Is there any redeeming value in drawing a line in the sand to mark the passing of time?

The enjoyment I get out of growing things can't be accounted for by the small amount of produce recovered from the effort; there must be other subconscious rewards that come with the green shoots in the garden.

Joy of friendship is high on the list of favorite things in the days passed. I wonder how people who aren't social can make it in a world that is becoming less personalized every day and how the technology generated conversations on phones can fill the gap in a meaningful way.

Family success means a lot when we think about the big picture of life. Health and prosperity of the new generation reassures us that maybe the future won't be as bad as some of the news men try to paint it. While we will miss the naïve innocence of the grandchildren, the successes that come through their maturity will overshadow that loss.

So as we try to imagine the challenges that will surely come to us in the new year, we can take some comfort in remembering the messes we have survived in this last milestone. Things that we once wondered about being able to endure have passed into the distance and it seems we are no worse for the wear.

With the resources of thanksgiving for what we have, friends to help us along, and family successes to encourage us, there should be no hesitancy or reluctance in facing a new year. I'm hoping we can all anticipate a peaceful, harmonious, season of plenty in 2012. Happy New Year!

By GEORGE ROBERTSON, M.D.

Editor’s Note: George Robertson is a physician with Family Medical Associates, PC, in Lebanon.