Beginnings…

Once again, we have a new year ahead of us. A new fresh start! How many resolutions must be made at this time, and how many of them do we fail to keep? I make new years resolutions every year, and then renew them about 4 more times throughout the year…and then forget them, and fail to follow through most of the time. There are so many days when I look back and wonder what happened? Once again, I didn’t follow through. Disappointment sets in. Then apathy.

What sets this year apart from the other ones is that I am not setting any new resolutions. There will be new beginnings and new endevours, but they will just be an extension of all the times that I have started to do something, and not finished. Nothing like a “new continuation”! Nothing wrong with starting something again, and again, and again…it’s the perseverance that gets the job done, not the starting and stopping.

I have noticed that every day, every morning, needs to be treated as a new beginning. Each day we have a chance to start afresh. If we keep focusing on the bad, and yesterdays failures, it sets a tone for the new day…and that gets it started on a negative note. We make mistakes, and the more we focus on them, the less willing we are to keep trying. As humans, we are so hard on ourselves. We have high expectations and hopes for ourselves and for others. When we wallow in our fallibility we can’t see that this is normal human behavior. We will fail, and some will not get up. When we see that giving up isn’t an option, it gives us the hope to start again.

So instead of thinking of this as a new year, I will be thinking of each day as a new beginning. Less daunting, and so much easier to handle. If one day goes to “waste”, then I can start a new one the next day. 365 new beginnings. 365 new chances to do something new and different. 365 days to live to the fullest.

So many new beginnings and opportunites.

“God ’s loyal love couldn’t have run out, his merciful love couldn’t have dried up. They’re created new every morning. How great your faithfulness! I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over). He’s all I’ve got left.” (Lamentations 3:22-24 MSG)

Make this next year, and the years to come, full of new experiences. New ones with your Creator, and new ones with His creation. Each day is a new one. Don’t look back, except to learn…and know that He is with you!