A brand new year

Well - this one is already a week old, but hey, give a girl a break!

What is it about the start to a brand new year that we find so interesting, or inspiring? I dawned on me tonight what it is -

HOPE

There is so much hope to be found in a new year. What is better than a fresh empty set of 12 months full of the unknown just waiting to be filled with all the wonderful things we have planned and all the possibilities that we could dream ? I came across this tonight and thought it summed up pretty well what I have been thinking.

Hope works in these ways:

it looks for the good in people instead of harping on the worst;

it discovers what can be done instead of grumbling about what cannot;

it regards problems, large or small, as opportunites;

it pushes ahead when it would be easy to quit;

it "lights the candle" instead of "cursing the darkness." ~ anonymous

Isn't that the basis for almost every resolution ever made. We vow to change our relationships, be more positive. lose the weight, shed the negatives from the last year and start anew, take a fresh look at our problems - in each of these lies the hope that "this is the year".

Signifies that each year we hope to improve ourselves in some way be in physical or emotional.

We hope for the best or better for our family.

We hope that the struggles of the last year will leave with Dec 31st. Jan 1st signifies the start of a fresh beginning.

But does anything really truly change at the stroke of midnight on Dec 31st? No - not really. What changes is inside of us. The physical passing of that hallmark in time seems to be the impetus that many need to begin to hope, to dare to believe that something can change, to start to believe in themselves perhaps.

My prayer is that at the end of this year, we can look back and see the positive in the year, and not dwell on the bad, and that each of us can see that hope for change and possibility all year long. Not waiting until the end of the year to be able to start again. Each of us has the power to start fresh every day regardless of our situation or circumstances. (what am I channeling Oprah?) Life is a decision daily - how do we chose to live this day, shed yesterday and greet the dawn with a fresh face.

Here's to a new year!