Not Such A Fresh Start

I was looking forward to starting this first Monday of the New Year on a completely clean slate.  I was hoping for a spotless house decluttered from Christmas decor with everything put in its place.  I was planning on a well-planned week, perhaps even month, with my routines and goals set in place.  I was aiming for an early Monday morning wake up, with a devotional from First 5, coffee in hand, enjoying the very quiet hours of the early morning after a busy holiday.  I wanted to start my Monday off somewhat relaxed, with not too many expectations on myself yet still a fresh, new start.

Then the Holidays happened, and continued, and the busyness did not stop.  As much as I had tried to slow it down during the Holidays and was able to in some regards, the overall busyness sometimes seems impossible to overcome.  After which, I got a pesky cold and therefore had no energy to prepare well for my hopeful Monday morning.  Life happens.

So, I sit here on my couch this first Monday of January 2016, in front of my wilting Christmas tree with a pile of toys on the right.  I sit here and think about all that which needs to be completed today, all that which I wish I had the time to do, and how I wish I could just have had ONE more day before this regular routine begins.

Remnants of the Holidays..

One more day...one more hour...one more minute.  That is what we are constantly hoping for in this busy, busy life.  One more.

What we do have is that day, that hour, that minute.  Instead of thinking and wishing what we could have or what we could have done, we have a choice to live in that specific moment and use that time for good.

Perhaps you are starting your Monday off a bit like mine - scattered, cluttered, and unplanned.  It sounds like a not-so-good way of beginning the new year.  But is is truth and it is reality.  Life is not cookie cut and while we would like to think that the first of January has a magical spell of new beginnings it is simply another day in which we continue to live this crazy life.  New beginnings and fresh starts can begin at any time - not just the beginning of January.  Today does not feel like much of a fresh start for me.  However perhaps the simple case of facing this reality and moving on and beginning this day with joy in just how it is, is a way of starting fresh in itself. And we have this opportunity, Every. Single. Day.   Not just on January 1.

Instead of sitting here and wishing my minutes away, focusing on the blues from the end of the Holidays and my lack of feeling complete, I can choose to focus on using the time I do have and being thankful in this.  I can choose to begin a fresh start in my attitude for this day, today.

After all, it is about our attitudes, our mind sets, and how we choose to face this day.