At this time of year, as we approach New Year’s Eve, everyone is talking about new beginnings. A brand new year makes people think about a fresh start. A blank slate. A second chance. A do-over.
I don’t want a do-over, and I don’t think I even want a new beginning. A do-over takes away the significance of everything I’ve already done; that could be good, or that could be bad, because it would allow me to make the same mistakes. A new beginning carries with it a type of blind naivety or wide-eyed wonderment that makes one eager to take it all in but forget to hang on to what was gained and learned. I think what I really want is a new chapter in the same book.
Everyone’s life is an adventure story. Think about your favorite novel or most exciting movie. There’s action, suspense, love, heartache, pain, joy, tears, fear – How could STAR TREK be complete without confrontations with the Romulans or Klingons, as well as Captain Kirk’s love affairs with alien women? How could STAR WARS exist without the evil of Darth Vader and the strength, righteous convictions, and beauty of Princess Leia? GONE WITH THE WIND would not be the iconic book and movie without the love story of Scarlett and Rhett, along with the burning of Atlanta. Every story is complete only because of the entire range of experiences and emotions. A new beginning will not be free of strife and turmoil, but a new chapter is a continuation of a life’s story that has been unfolding and developing over time. The time is what builds strength into the lead character, you. Your story develops throughout everything that happens after your original beginning. That favorite novel of yours keeps your attention because of the rise, fall, and entire spectrum of emotions that you can identify with.
New beginnings and moving forward is certainly not a new concept; I’ve written about it before as well as many others. But as time continues to chug along, I find that I don’t want to move on as someone new and different; I want to start a new chapter in the story that God has already written for me. Chapters in adventure stories don’t make sense without all the other chapters that go before them. If they did, they would simply be a compilation of unrelated short stories. Those have new beginnings every few pages; the stories are all wrapped up within a few pages before you get too immersed and committed. Some people may view this as nothing more than a different perspective, but I really think it’s more than that. A new beginningmeans the past is over, done, and that’s that. However, a new chapter is based on information and events that have influenced and led up to the present. I don’t ever want to turn my back on what I have experienced, no matter how horrible some of it may have been. I don’t think I could pull off that kind of lie to myself anyway. Psalm 119:29 says “Keep me from lying to myself; give me the privilege of knowing Your instructions.” I want to learn as I go, not learn just for the sake of directionless activity. I want to learn in order to build, form, mold, and become the person I was created in the beginning to be, not “start-over-brand-new” every few years. We are all supposed to become more as the years go by – to have more facets, more color, more depth, more capacity to receive so that we have more to share and give. I don’t want to slowly fizzle and fade away as I get older. No one should.
A friend of mine shared a wonderful quote by Erma Bombeck. It says, ‘When I stand before God at the end of my life I would hope that I have not a single bit of talent left, and I could say: ‘I used everything You gave me.’”
You don’t have a chance to use all your talent to its limit if you’re always starting over. I don’t want my life to be a series of short stories. I want my life to be a big fat book that doesn’t say THE END until it really is.
Dance on.
Grace Notes 