Dip The Apple In Honey

We all eat and make a big deal about the simanim- and say the appropriate yehi ratzons, on the night of Rosh Hashana. The Mishna Breurah quotes a Shlah that one should think of Teshuva and say a tefila- that being the yehi ratzons. R' Shlome Kluger says that the simanim are not a tefilah but rather an expression of emunah that the judgment will be favorable one. When we say "Yehi ratzon that this year shall be a sweet and good one" we are saying that we trust Hashem that in the judgement that he passes on the Yom Hadin we will be given a sweet and happy year. R' S. Kluger goes on to explain that this emunah alone is enough to swing the din in our favor. When Hashem sees that we put our full trust in him he has mercy and gives us what we ask for.
I once heard another nice reason for the simanim from C.K. The word we use is 'siman' which means a sign- something we use to remember something. When we dip the apple in honey we make a sign for ourselves that we want a sweet year- one that's really sweet - with holiness. In a few months when the yomim noraim are a faint memory and we are in the same place we were last year let us remind ourselves that we really wanted to be better this year and that on Rosh Hashana night we asked for a sweet year and we really wanted to change. The sign that we make for ourselves on this night will last through the long winter and we will really achieve what we set out to do.