What’s So New About Another Year?

In years gone by I would often end the year with a personal assessment of my life, reviewing my list of goals and spots where I may have come up short against my own yard stick. Based on whatever I came up with after this review I would create a new list of goals and start the year on a tremendous high because I bought into the hype of believing the date on the calendar was my introductory offer, a new opportunity to start over. Thankfully I have moved beyond that line of thinking. If this is in anyway similar to what you’ve done in the past – then allow me to suggest a new view on a new year.

January 1 does not have to signify the beginning or ending of anything. The beginning of a New Year, new month or new week is considered a gauge for beginnings and I say we begin a new moment each and every day. Our lives are sectioned off from the first day of the year to the last date of the calendar year. Most things are set against some kind of time clock, designed by whom? There is daylight savings time…set dates for Holiday sales…end of the year deals when purchasing a new car…even academic dates and deadlines. And we get caught up with feeling we must adhere to those time framed parameters.

Who would dare switch their first day of the year to something like March 1 of one year to Feb 28 of another, especially when this choice of dates may connect you to a leap year and totally erase any chance of an accurate reading of when a new year begins and ends?

The start of each day is the in our year and we should embrace with grateful excitement another chance…extra moments to spend with the people we love…the opportunity to try something else…and the realization that we made it through challenging times and arrived at a place where we can laugh and celebrate each joyous moment. We each get another 365 days to make the most of ourselves…our thoughts…our passions…our lives, and hopefully contribute in a positive and productive way to the life of someone else.

So, what’s so new about a new year is our chance to adopt a new approach to handling what may happen for us and those things that may happen to us. The clock starts now. Pull back the curtains and raise the shade on a new day, a new year with unlimited possibilities.

What I know for sure, is that there are few things that are absolutely certain. With that knowledge, I suggest we get on with living our lives to the fullest in the best way possible. I am living all my wonderful “In Waiting” moments in 365 day increments, and with each of those days I will continue to… “Expect the Extraordinary”.

Gillie Haynes