First Day
When my children were smaller, my father would play a little game with them. He would say, “What day is it?” My children, would respond with, “It’s June 8″ or “It’s Monday” or even “I don’t know.” My father would then answer back, “It’s the first day of the rest of your life.” Eventually, they caught on to the game so that when my dad asked the “What day is it?” question, they didn’t try to come up with the correct calendar day. Instead, they repeated the mantra–Today is the first day of the rest of my life.
I suppose my father drilled this same philosophy into me as well because I don’t get overly excited about New Year’s Day. Typically, it is viewed as a day to start over, a day to set new resolutions and make needed changes in one’s life. For me, it often becomes a very negative day as we focus on all that went wrong during the previous year so that we can make new resolutions to fix our mistakes. If, however, today is the first day of the rest of our lives, then everyday is a day we start over. Everyday is a new beginning, and everyday we should be evaluating our lives to celebrate what is going well and deciding what needs improving.
One of the duties of my job is to help communities do strategic planning. During the planning process I facilitate a discussion first about strengths–what a community is doing well. Then we move to weaknesses–what a community needs to improve. Very often the groups find it easier to criticize themselves than to recognize their successes. I want each day of 2007 to be the first day of the rest of my life. I want to continually celebrate what I’m doing right because I am doing a great deal correctly. I also want to spend each day recognizing where I can be a better person, a better father and husband, and a better Christian. I don’t typically set New Year’s resolutions. Instead, I set daily ones.
As this new calendar year 2007 begins, I want to say thank you to each of you who take the time occasionally to read my random perspectives. I also want to wish you a year full of hope, celebration, and new daily beginnings.
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