Talk is cheap. That's why there is so much of it. Understanding is precious. That's why there is so little. While people always have a lot to say to one another, they are rarely so inclined to listen. They converse, but they do not communicate. They rarely say what they mean or mean what they say.So many things could be so different. So many problems could be solved. So many ambitions could be fulfilled. You can see this potential... and you can sense it with your heart. Why then do you feel so concerned or uncomfortable? Because there have been times in the past when you have been just as close to a pleasing breakthrough yet, most frustratingly, it has failed to materialise. What's different now, though, as you enter a New Year, is that you are in a real position to ensure that the right thing happens.You can pick apart that haystack for weeks and never find the needle. Or you can walk many miles away from it, but encounter, in your travels, someone who owns a powerful magnet. At which point, you can borrow it, go back and withdraw your missing bit of metal. It will take no more time and it will prove far more enjoyable.Halt! Who goes there? Friend or foe?' This, allegedly, is what sentries used to say. The world must have been a different place back then. Were foes really once so honourable that it never occurred to them to lie and say 'friend'? These days, people rarely say what they mean. You are now wrestling with a difficult dilemma. How seriously should you take it?