Fresh Start

Do you make resolutions? Not me!

It’s time for a Fresh Start!

I have never made New Year’s resolutions because I have to be honest, I know I will never keep them. I always try and plan to make better choices about so many things but I don’t like to make promises I know I can’t keep, not even to myself. I think when that calendar changes over to another year we all desire a fresh start in some avenue of our lives.

I think as we reflect on the past year, we all have regrets and second guess decisions that we made. We wonder if we have really learned from our mistakes and bad choices or will we keep repeating the same behavior and getting the same bad results? It’s really hard to make changes that last and actually continue to benefit us. It’s easier to throw in the towel, so to speak and go with the flow.

I was listening to a hockey coach as he described his strategy for the success of his players. He said he only looks at the future in 5 game increments, not looking to the past or the future beyond those 5 games. At the end of 5 games he analyzes how many were won and lost and plans the changes that need to be made to ensure success. If you look at the entire season constantly you will either place too much emphasis on your losses and get discouraged. Or you will think because you have won so many, you have figured it all out and lose your edge to compete harder. By just taking inventory of our lives in small increments we will also challenge ourselves at a level that won’t breed great discouragement. We dont have a promise of tomorrow so we need to focus so much more energy on the present state we are in and not be overwhelmed with past regrets or fear of the future.

A fresh start in any project we undertake is sometimes all we need to succeed. I have the hardest time understanding math. My trigonometry teacher told me in high school that I had the memory span of a grasshopper. The reality was that I cannot see 3 dimensions on a 2 dimensional surface. So yes I’m going to fail at grasping these concepts. However, if I would have taken to heart that negative comment made by that teacher that day so many years ago it could have affected my ability to learn. I did struggle with that class but it made me more determined to excel in all of my other classes. I made a decision that I did not have the memory span of a grasshopper but rather an inability to grasp a mathematical  concept. My thought process gave me a fresh start in my goals to succeed. I attended college on an academic scholarship.

I am grateful for the past year and all the successes I attained but unfortunately also feel sorrow at all the failures. I am looking forward now to this brand new year with new challenges to overcome and new ground to gain. A Fresh Start!