Welcome to a New Year

I love new beginnings. I think most of us do. We look at what we’ve done or haven’t done and want to start over. That’s why New Year’s is so popular.

It’s a new beginning. We can blame our shortcomings and deficiencies on the old year. Yes! It was 2012’s fault that we weren’t at our best. But now…now…2013! So ripe and full of promise. You won’t let us down now will you?

The truth is every day is a new beginning. It’s a chance to start anew. I didn’t get done all that I wanted to yesterday.But, as Scarlett famously said, tomorrow is another day. There is always hope. A new chance. A new beginning.

So make your resolutions. Make your plans. Make your lists of all you want to do and want to be. But don’t put them away until 2014. Don’t put them away, period. What is it you wish to be on this day? What is it you wish to do? I want to finish my novel. I can’t do that all today but by gosh I can write some pages. And I will. I want to learn Italian and freshen up my French. But it would be a terrible mistake to think I could do that in a day with all of the Rosetta Stones at my disposal. But I could learn ten vocabulary words today. And I will.

And if I don’t?

Tomorrow is a new beginning.

I am a long distance cyclist and a hiker. What I am not is a bike racer and a sprinter. I’m the tortoise not the hare. You don’t “beat” a cycling century (100 miles) or the Appalachian Trail. You outlast them. Life is a marathon, not a sprint. And I use that cliché and others because there is truth to them. The 100 mile bike ride is one pedal stroke after another, thousands and thousands, that culminate at the top of Grandfather Mountain, if you keep going. The Appalachian Trail is one step after another, tens of thousands, that culminate at the top of Mt. Katahdin in Maine for north bounders if you keep going.

2013 is made up of one day after another, 365 in all, that will culminate in…what?

You get to decide.

As I said earlier, I’m going to finish my novel and have it ready to send out to an agent or editor. I’m going to learn more Italian and French. I’m going to lose twenty-five pounds and am going to ride and finish some cycling centuries this year. I’m going to work on how to figure out ways to be a better husband, father and, now, a grandfather. I’m going to figure out ways to be a better friend, a better colleague and a better citizen of this grand world in which we live.

What will you do? And just as importantly, when will you begin?

Right now is a new beginning. Do your best. Try your hardest. Reward yourself for your victories and forgive yourself for your failures. Recognize your shortcomings but don’t embrace them. You may never beat them but you can outlast them.

Today is a new beginning. But always remember. So is tomorrow.