Beginnings

As the year 2013 commences, I plan to embark on a celebration of words. One a day. Some days they will have special meaning related to the specific day, but others will be driven by my feelings or mood. I hope you'll join me in this celebration and evaluate how each word applies to you.

Our lives are full of words. We speak them, think them, type them, tweet them, text them. If I accomplish nothing else in this journey, I hope my appreciation of the hundreds of words I use on a daily basis is heightened. As I contemplate today's selection, the word beginning keeps coming to mind. It indicates a starting point, so what better word to chose on this new adventure on this first day of the year?!

I have mixed emotions about this word, but in general I feel it's a positive word. In its literal sense, the true beginning for each of us is birth. Anything after that is a "new beginning" which usually comes from change. I'm grateful to have the option of making changes in my life, but I feel society has somewhat tarnished the true meaning of beginning along the way.

For instance, at the New Year, many resolve to make a change of this or that, vowing a new beginning. But a large majority of those vows get broken, and at the start of the next year, renewed again. It reminds me of something I often tell my husband. He'll commit an infraction and immediately ask for forgiveness. It's usually some silly small thing and a deed he fully knows he will turn around and do again. I tell him he shouldn't ask for forgiveness, because it totally diminishes the act of forgiving. So, I avoid making annual resolutions for that very reason.

For the most part, I try to avoid labeling the changes I make in my life as new beginnings. I can remember as a kid when we moved I looked forward to a "fresh start" in a new town. The problem was that I was still the same person with the same points of view and behaving in the same ways in the new place as in the old. It's easy to slap a label on something but quite difficult to fulfill the true meaning.

As we begin this new year, I hope each of you will seriously contemplate the resolutions you are making. Establish goals that are achievable, but at the same time stretch you. But most importantly, think of the meaning of a new beginning in relation to your goals. Do your best to honor and value the beginning you choose!