New Beginnings––Are They for Real?

Nearly every headline I see this time of year makes a statement about new beginnings: “It’s a New Year––A New Beginning,” “Jumpstart Your New Year” and on and on. I see and hear these words every year.

Am I really starting over or just rewinding for a rerun of last year? The opinions about fresh starts and new beginnings are as varied as the persons voicing them.

Many years ago a wise suggestion came my way with a new perspective on this “new beginning” concept. Instead of focusing on a redundant resolution routine, how about taking inventory on what I’ve attempted, accomplished, achieved the previous year and then becoming intentional about improving or enhancing those things in the new year?

Now that’s something I could grab and actually follow through with all year long. My inventory list looks something like this:

How many books did I read?
How many new people did I meet?
What events, or experiences did I attend or celebrate?
What obstacles did I overcome? Did I forgive? What new thing did I learn?
What unfinished projects will I complete THIS year?
Was I an influencer or an agent of change? How? For whom?

Each person’s inventory list will be as unique as their personality and creativeness allow. This approach to a new year energizes me more than staring at a list of resolutions that lose their luster by springtime.

By kicking off a new year with this method, I’m not excluding the past year, but instead building on it. My past is part of the foundation on which I will begin building this new year. As a writer, I’m always writing new chapters. Isn’t that what 2020 will become? Another chapter in my life’s story? How will it read by December?

I do appreciate the opportunity to start fresh every January. It gives me the chance to ask “what if” as I peer into the months ahead. What if I stretched myself to try something new? What if I stopped talking about the next book I want to write and actually begin the outline and then sign up for a class on How to Write a Book in 30-Days?

The holiday hassles will soon become the post-holiday routine. Now is the time to change our tune from Deck the Halls to The Beat Goes On and get into the rhythm of the New Year and create New Beginnings.

What’s your “what if?”

“There are far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” ~ C.S. Lewis