New Beginnings

Several years ago, my daughter, a minister in Texas called to tell me about something she found written on the inside cover of one of my dad’s reference books. Dad had been a minister for over 60 years, and my daughter had picked up some of his reference books on her last visit to Tulsa.

In one book she found these words written inside the cover, “Received January 25, 1936, A day of new beginnings”.

Now I don’t know what dad meant when he wrote that, but she saw an ironic significance in it. Dad died on January 25—63 years later. The month and day that he wrote about a being day of new beginnings for him was the same date that he crossed over to a land of new beginnings.

As I thought about it, I realized that everyday should be a day of new beginnings for each of us. While it is true that we can learn valuable lessons from past experiences that can become a catalyst for success; it is just as true that for many people the past serves as a mental barrier rather than a springboard into the future. For whatever reason they tend to allow past difficulties to cloud their evaluation of current opportunities, past mistakes to haunt them, and past defeats to paralyze them.

This Week’s Action Step: make this a week of “new beginnings” by beginning everyday with the affirmation, “Today Is A Day of New Beginnings For Me!”