People often ask me why it is that I put the sunrise and sunset times for Hucknall in the footer of my website. The reason is that I am obssessed with day length and I always like to know what to expect.
I find this time of year difficult because of the short days and therefore the long periods of darkness. However, the Saturday just gone (21 December) marked the shortest day of the year. It is one of my favourite days of the year because I know that from now on, the nights will start to be lighter.
Yes it is very gradual at first. I believe Sunday was just 15 seconds longer than Saturday; not exactly noticable. However, it means that we are heading in the right direction and within a few weeks we will really notice a difference. So it is then that at this time of year I find myself in optimistic mood.
Isn't it amazing? Nothing has really changed yet but the mere expectation of better things to come lifts my mood considerably.
I feel just the same about the year 2013. I believe that this year was the recession's 21st of December. There were the smallest signs of recovery. On their own, they are not enough to make any considerable difference to our lives and I am fully aware that some people are still finding things very difficult.
However, the signs for the future are excellent. Businesses are showing the first signs of optimism after years of much darkness in the commerce world.
This in turn reminds me of the film Being There starring Peter Sellers. In the film, he accidentally makes a profound statement that although things die in Autumn and Winter, we always have the green shoots of Spring to look forward to.
By the way, I am not making a political point. I think it is businesses themselves that will bring us out of this recession and has little or nothing to do with which government is in power. I believe economic success happens inspite of and not because of government policies.
So I for one am feeling really good about the upcoming year. It is up to us as business owners to give impetus to this new period of optimism. Let's take risks, let's innovate and let us inspire!