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The Joy of New Beginnings
We have a new baby in our family this week! (A grandson for me.) What a great reminder of the joy of new beginnings. Think of the excitement that comes along with new beginnings - The pleasure that erupts out of envisioning the possibilities.
There are many new beginnings we experience throughout our lives: first day of school, a new job, a first date, a new home, a new year. The opportunities that go along with these new beginnings can be both frightening and exciting.
With every new beginning come new things to learn, new relationships, expanding horizons.
Do you remember your first day of school - or the first day at a new school? What were your fears? What did you anticipate?
Often our fears are based on what ifs. We generally think of what if's in negative terms such as what if I get hurt? What if I don't have enough money? What if no one talks to me... likes me... plays with me... the list goes on and on. But we can turn that whole what if game around. What if success is the only possible outcome? However we choose to define success. What if it turned out to be all we dream it could be?
The joy of new beginnings is in the fact that we anticipate wonderful outcomes. We imagine all of the great possibilities. We conjure up elaborate happy endings.
What if we allowed ourselves to believe in those possibilities? What if we set our sights on creating those wonderful outcomes? What if we took inspired action toward those happy endings?
Sometimes things do not turn out the way we had envisioned them. Sometimes we see things as unfair or as tragedies and yet somewhere within each of these experiences lay the potential for change, for growth, for new beginnings we have not even imagined.
In every moment lies the opportunity for a new beginning. When we are faced with what we might perceive to be an obstacle we can choose to view it in a new light. When we are frustrated or angry we can choose to take a deep breath and respond in a new way.
By practicing non-judgement of both ourselves and others, trusting that each one of us at our core are all part of One Spirit, we open up to the true blessing of each new beginning.
By observing our own actions and those of others we can learn to look at any situation, and say to ourselves, "This is what is." And choose in that moment to see the wonder of a new beginning.
Just as babies are such a huge blessing in the lives of their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles ... Every opportunity for a new beginning in our lives is a blessing.
At any moment by believing in the Spirit that dwells within each of us, by trusting ourselves enough to reach deep inside we can choose to be more kind, more generous, more loving, more understanding, more patient - perhaps those are the truly blessed new beginnings.
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