Starting Again for the Very First Time

There is something unique about January 1. It begins a new year, a new time for do overs. No, you can't go back and change anything that happened in 2010, but you can move on from the miscues, foibles, and downright goofy conduct experienced in 2010.

A professional athlete is judged on performance from season to season. A number of factors determine how successful a season the athlete encounters. Maybe an injury or sickness impeded progress or maybe bad decisions curtailed expected results. With a new season comes a new start.
There have been years that did not bear the success I had planned. As a matter of fact there have been years that I intentionally stayed awake until after midnight on 12/31 to make sure that year was over and didn't hang around any longer.

Well 2011 is another year, another do over. The question is will I take advantage of a new start or will I let the inopportunities of last year plague me in the new year? It seems counterproductive to burden myself with last year's pitfalls. So maybe I should take a suggestion from the apostle Paul who said, "...forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal of the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." By forgetting, he did not mean to completely ignore the lessons learned from the past, but simply to not let the problems of the past weigh you down with regret and stifle your future growth.

There is nothing you can do to change what has already transpired. But starting afresh in the new year focuses on the now rather than the past. It is in the now that decisions are made that will effect the future.

Remember the lessons but keep the past where it belongs.

Surprises

It's Christmas. Children anxiously anticipate opening the presents they have seen wrapped and placed under the tree. They speculate as to what those paper bound bow tied boxes contain. Sometimes they know what's inside. Other times they are completely clueless. There are different expressions on their faces depending on whether they know the contents. The fun in watching is the delight expressed when they are caught off guard by a surprise.

Adults are really no different. Yes, we are supposed to be less demonstrative. But that does not tell the whole story. It's not just in the display of surprise, it's the delight of surprise that is hard to mask.

The phrase "the delight of surprise" is most intriguing. Whether the surprise evokes an immediate reaction or is subdued does not in any way negate the surprise itself. It is simply a positive experience that was not expected.

Some surprises are mind shattering and some are merely amusing. But all surprises have the degree of awe that is fun sometime to the point of overwhelming. Life is full of surprises. Let us be thankful and allow the delight of surprise to fuel our enthusiasm for unexpected joy.

Elation

Dramatic events can take place in an instant in time. Such happenings can be either good or bad, happy or sad. The one thing that is certain is the impact such a circumstance can have on one's life. If the result is positive euphoria can occur. If the the outcome is negative depression can surreptiously enter the picture. In either case the end result has a profound impact on the present and future state of the individual affected.

Little did two brothers who had not spoken with each other for twenty years, realize that today they would see each other in a different light prompting them to reach out to one another. Several attenders at a memorial service were unaware that when they came to the funeral home they were going to leave as changed individuals.

Circumstances can change in an instant. Life should be celebrated in the present with the expectation that current conditions could improve from bad to good, from good to spectacluar.