Happy New Year!
We are just a few days into another new year and I am asking the question, why do we love ‘NEW’?
We are in the habit of wishing everyone a happy new year. It’s one of the few greetings that we can say without offending people, generally. We celebrate the new year, but that makes me think about how much we seem to love things that are new. We love new babies, puppies, kittens. We all know that new car smell. That first green leaf in spring. Spring for that matter. That feeling of soft inside a new sweatshirt. The first steps in a snowy lawn or sandy beach. First steps, words, foods. All things new we love and celebrate. Why?
I think it’s because it hasn’t been spoiled, bruised, or tainted. It is as it should always be. That is a good thing, we get to see things as they are in the beginning. It is a chance to begin fresh without judgment. New things are to be cherished. We should remember those new feelings. New relationship feelings, first kiss, first touch, first ‘I love you’. It makes me warm and fuzzy inside just thinking about all these new things. And then, ‘it’ happens. New is not new anymore. So now what?
This is where most of us get hung up. We long for that ‘new’ feeling all the time. Wanting that feeling is not a bad thing unless you can’t get past it. If you are only happy when you have new things then there is a problem.
I know people that simply can’t have a normal long-term relationship because as soon as the newness of the relationship starts to wear off, they move on just to keep that feeling. Ok, that is just not healthy.
But there is a middle ground. And I think in most things as long as you are really honest with yourself, you can have that new feeling and yet not have to give up what you have to get it. Let me explain. With some things, you can’t replace that feeling. With relationships, for example, it is healthy to move on to the next phase of a relationship. That feeling of new gets replaced with comfortable, not boring, just comfortable like a warm blanket. That new sweatshirt feeling is one of those things that you simply can’t recreate unless you buy a new one. Ok, that’s fine. Babies grow, flowers bloom, relationships change, it’s all part of the process.
At this time of year, we are in the middle of a season, but at the beginning of the calendar. To me, it’s one of those examples of, is new really new? It can be if you want it to. Take this opportunity to create new. If you want that new feeling, create it. Start a new… Most people make resolutions, why not just take the time to start something new. Not a resolution, just something new.
Trying a new eating plan. How about taking a class. Find an old friend to reconnect with. Start a new book. Reorganize your living room. Plan for a trip somewhere new that you have wanted to go to. Learn a new language. Save a little more money. Learn to cook a new kind of food. Find a new church. Try a new sport. Buy a new lip colour. We can find that ‘new’ feeling if we want to. Sometimes it’s just a decision. Maybe the new thing needs to be your attitude. Let’s try to be more easy-going, less critical, less sarcastic. Smile more, complain less. Pay more compliments to others and to yourself.
This year can be as new as you want it to be. Take some time to think about what you want this year to be. An extension of last year, or a whole new beginning? This year is truly in your hands, it’s still new.
Happy New Year and may God Bless You.
Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
