Never Miss the Chance to Start Again
Not everyone is a fan of New Year’s resolutions, but I am. Nothing magical happens at the stroke of midnight on December 31st, but a new year does present an opportunity, and I’m a fan of taking advantage of every opportunity available to me.
What opportunity does the new year present? The promise of a new beginning. The chance to start again.
New beginnings represent hope and growth and possibility. They offer the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently. They give us the chance to move on from our failures. They offer the chance to try again.
“Every moment is a new beginning.”
Maybe New Year’s resolutions aren’t your thing. No problem. Forget the new year, just don’t miss the opportunity to start again.
It’s always a good time to take stock of your life, to see if you are moving in the right direction. Confirm whether your current actions are taking you where you want to go with your life. Not because it’s a new year, but because you only have one life and it only makes sense to do everything we can to make it spectacular.
“It’s never too late to be what you might have been.”
A new beginning means it’s never too late. It means there’s still hope.
That reminder comes to life in a story from one of my favorite authors, Bob Goff.
Bob’s first book, Love Does, was a bestseller. He was nearly finished writing his second book when he visited San Francisco. While he was there, someone broke into his van and stole his laptop.
Unfortunately, the only copy of the book was on that computer.
I can’t imagine that. If I lose a paragraph or two to a computer crash, it nearly stops me in my tracks. Losing an entire book would feel devastating.
But Bob is wired differently.
He later joked that many authors experience a sophomore slump—that their second book usually isn’t very good anyway. He figured whoever stole his laptop may have saved the world from his second book. Now, he said, he could get busy writing his third.
So he did.
Bob went on to write Everybody Always, which became another bestseller.
Most of us won’t lose a manuscript, but many of us carry regrets, false starts, or chapters of life we wish had gone differently. The good news is the same for all of us: the next chapter is still unwritten.
Regardless of our past, our missteps, or the challenges we’ve faced, we can begin again.
Whether it’s a new year or simply a new day, never miss the chance to start again.
(If you’re looking for ideas and inspiration in the new year, I invite you to read my book, A Life Worth Living. Start again and dare to live the life you’ve imagined.)
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