Is a New Year Better Than a New Day?
Odd thoughts—and I mean really odd—occur to me on a frequent basis. Most of them I dismiss; they aren’t worth considering. But one thought that hasn’t left me alone lately is why there’s so much hoopla about a new year.
I kind of get it. We spend all year working toward goals (or resolutions) and now it’s time to set new ones. But why does that cause so much excitement? It’s like saying, we can only make new goals when a new year comes around.
Why is January 1 any different than December 31 aside from the new number behind it?
The past is past. We can’t call it back. Whether it was yesterday or last year or ten years.
How many of us have heard, “I’ll be so glad when this year is over”? Does the new number that comes with a new year give more a sense of the old year being behind us?
Why does it offer more hope than a new day or a new month or a new week?
The fact is every day is a new day that offers the opportunity to make new choices. The old circumstances might still be there, but we can make new choices about how we view those circumstances.
We can be just as excited about January 2 and every day that follows it as we are about January 1. And why not start right now? Remind yourself you have all new choices and a whole new day ahead of you every morning you wake up.
What’s your perspective on all this? What does a new year mean to you? Put your thoughts in the comments below.
There’s just something about the rhythm of the year that makes New Year’s an especially easy time to reflect on what God has done in and through me in the past year and gives me a sense of recalibrating with Him for the new year. The cyclical nature of the year is God’s gift to us He introduced “in the beginning.” He made it all to help us.
I can see that perspective. I guess as the years have passed by and I’ve grown older, Jan. 1 just seems like every other day. For some reason, this year I heard too much about the new year that it got old and monotonous. Hope your new year is blessed.
The new year for me always means a celebration because my fourth child, Denise, was the firstborn baby in Lyons County, and she received prizes for her mother, father, and herself. It was also a centennial year for Lyons County, so she received a gold centennial coin. This year my youngest daughter was diagnoxed with stage four lung cancer and she had never smoked. Because she was diagnosed in her teens with Asperger’s, she had lived with me for thirteen years. Because the cancer was so far advanced, Angela only lived for eight months. November 14th she passed away at home with her family surrounding her. So the first of this year I realized that the trajectory of my life had changed again. This year will be one of moving forward and moving from an us mentality to a path now that involves finishing what I had put on hold. There are definitely times and seasons in life. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to gather and reap the harvest. I was blessed in your presentation last night. It sparked some new ways of approaching how I write.
So sorry to hear of your daughter’s death. I can’t imagine that. I pray the Lord is bringing you the comfort and strength for each day. I’m glad last night’s presentation was helpful. This diagnostic angle for self-editing certainly has helped me. God bless you and your family.
At that time I reflect on a broader scale — reviewing not just the year, but reevaluating where I want to go in the future.
It doesn’t need to be at the end of December/beginning of January, but that’s a convenient enough time these days.
Yup, I think that’s what most people do, myself included.