As we start a new year there seem to be two camps of people. Those people who are looking to make new years resolutions and have a fresh start and those people who are cynical of that kind of thing and its effectiveness. I mean, I’ve heard tons of people, including pastors pick on how you will see more people at your gym during this month. “But don’t worry, they’ll be gone by next month!” Possibly true. But what is the significance in a new year and a fresh start? Is there one? Should we give up on this whole new year thing? Or can we embrace it in such a way that we allow it to give us hope?
I tend to be a cynical person by nature. I can be one of those people who question whether anything changes with a new year. Really, does it? The date changes. That’s about it. It’s another day. Another week, another month, another year. Big deal.
I’d like to argue that it really is a big deal actually. We desperately need new. You desperately need new. Wherever you’re at in life I would venture to guess that there are things in your life that need changed. That’s what life is about: change and seasons. Currently it’s winter. Everything needs to go through a time of rest and death so that new life can come here in a few months when Spring comes.
Maybe you need a new day to dawn in your life. Maybe you need 2013 to be a fresh start spiritually. Maybe 2013 needs to be a new season for you health-wise. Maybe you need to make this new year significantly more productive and organized. Maybe it’s time to have a year without that bad habit holding you back. Maybe this will be the year you go after that dream that’s been gathering dust and needs to be fully released.
This is your new year!
We need new starts. Every morning when we wake up from leaving one day and enter a new one we’re shown that. Life is structured such that we have to let the past sink into where it naturally will go, behind us. And then we need to embrace the future which lies ahead of us by making the most of the present.
So personally speaking, I took some time at the end of last year to reflect on what the past year meant. I used this blog and the seven questions it asked to help me look back. But now I’m looking ahead. I’ve already come up with different things that I’m looking for this year to be. I know what I want to accomplish this year, because it’s a new year and in a sense I get a fresh start.
So do you. You get another year to write your story. What will this year be known for in your life story? What dreams will you go after? What do you hope to accomplish? How will you know you’ve had a successful year? What would make this a better year?
Allow yourself to have a new start. You and I, we need them. We need to be allowed to dream, to hope, to believe our future can be better than our past, and to believe that we in many ways will determine whether that becomes true or not. So dream big because your 2013 is here!
Question: What do you hope to accomplish with this new start?