Originally I wanted to write an encouraging New Year’s day post full of challenge and optimism. January 1st signifies a fresh start for many of us. Sure, it is only one of 12 calendar flips, but we put so much emphasis on the redemptive quality this date carries. Hopefully, we can somehow forget the hurts and mistakes of the last year and start anew. This really is a great yearly moment.
Like I said, this is what I wanted to write about. But then I started to think a little more about “fresh starts”. Who is to say they must be relegated to one day a year? Why can’t June 3rd be just as symbolic as January 1st? It seems to me that our creator knew we needed clean slates. The bookends of our days signify both death and rebirth. The sun rises and it sets – we wake, we sleep. All of our movements scream of new beginnings. The structure of our universe is knitted together with new starts and possibilities. Science tells us that we are never the same person twice. Each moment that passes erases the last.
Perhaps I am playing this up too much, but I for one need this new mindset to carry me through 2019. The previous year was weird at best and dreadful at worst. If we look at the entire picture (or year) as a whole, we are bound to feel hopeless and dreary. 365 days weigh entirely too much for our brittle shoulders to carry. When we take each day as a sunrise, we see more possibilities – more futures than pasts. If we want to make an impact, we can do it in our 24 hour bubble by living in the present. String enough of these days along, and you have built something beautiful. Each alarm clock wipes our memory and each sunset buries our sin. Humanity is granted do-overs with each new day.
So this year, take the day as she comes – silently and with unlimited possibilities. When the next day begins, may your struggles and frustrations of today fade into a new you.
Redemption ties this world together.
Every day is New Year’s Day.
Matt simon blog 