A New Year = A New Life

Posted On Monday, January 12th, 2009

Under: Building Self-Confidence, Goals, Healing after Loss, The Power of a Positive Outlook

A New Year = A New Life
I love fresh starts! Being one who has a hard time following through on commitments, each new day brings me the chance to start again and do better. I love that early-morning feeling when everything seems possible, and the hours stretch out ahead as if never-ending.

In the movie Anne of Green Gables, Marilla encourages Anne to look ahead, not behind at her mistakes, by counseling her, “Each new day is fresh, with no mistakes in it.”
That is what I love about mornings, and new weeks, new months, and new years! Fresh starts, and no mistakes yet.

Looking back, we can see so much in our lives that we wish were different, and that we’d like to change.
I want to change my life. I want to be more consistent, more reliable, more effective, more charitable, more knowledgeable – you get the idea. I want to change!

I used to think that for something to change a life in a positive way it would have to be huge and drastic, and those things never happened to me. I have come to learn differently. The things that seem to make the longest-lasting changes are those that take just a little bit of effort, that happen one small step at a time, stretching over a long period of time.

Forming the habit of reading from the scriptures for a few moments every day has changed my life, maybe not in ways visible to an onlooker, but I am more peaceful, more hopeful, and more positive after spending that time daily with God.

Taking the time to do just a few housekeeping tasks each morning starts the day out with a basic order in our home, and that changes my attitude for the entire day.

Deciding simply to listen more attentively when my children are talking to me has improved my relationship with them, and that changes my life for the better each time I remember to do so.

We have a new year now; the opportunity for yet another fresh start. Will you join me in finding joy in that chance to start over, to try to do a little better this next year?

May you find increased peace, hope, and healing in 2009, starting fresh, today.
Looking forward,

RoslynReynolds.com

From Grief to Hope and Healing