There is something special about the newness of an adventure!

I remember Christmas, so many years ago, with mom and dad and a giant Christmas Tree…and a seemingly unending amount of presents!  For my three year old mind…it seemed that there were more gifts than I could ever play with!

I recall becoming sixteen years old.  As far as I was concerned I was an adult and a free agent and I could do whatever I chose to do!

The day after my high school graduation…I moved away from home…and discovered that I was not as grown-up as I had initially imagined!

When I became a christian and discovered the wonderful mystery of the Bible and the joys of church life…I was ecstatic.

My career at Southern Illinois University created a plethora of beginnings for me!  I relished the responsibility entrusted to me and the opportunity to help others!

As we grow older we, sometimes, feel that our days of exciting beginnings are over.  We think that we, ‘have been there and seen, and done, that!’

Nothing could be further from the truth!  The roadblocks that we perceive are in our way…are those that we have, carefully, constructed in our head.

If we want to loose weight…eat more healthy foods and, perhaps less quantity, and exercise more.  And, do not expect results in a day…as the extra pounds did not come on in a a day…and they will take more than a day too leave!

Develop a mental picture of how you felt when you were thin…and look at it daily!

Is your job stressing you to the point of mental and physical exhaustion?

First, deal with all unnatural stressors that can be eliminated or lessened.  If it is still more than you need for a healthy lifestyle…begin looking for another position.

No job is worth your happiness…your life!

Are you bored to fatigue?  Find something that you enjoy and begin doing it on a regular basis.

I fear that we allow ourselves to become captives of the clock!

Our lives are very short…yet we stop constructive living and loving and enjoying the newness and mystery of each day….far before we die!

I have had people tell me that they did not know what they were going to do when they retired as their job was their entire life!

I wonder if the workaholic remembers that when they began their career they did so to provide for a better life for themselves and their family?  No one, ever signed a offer of employment that read, Come Join Us For Your Natural Life!

I think that we must remind ourselves that our happiness or peace or satisfaction is not predicated or controlled or governed by what someone says that it should be.

Your happiness is your responsibility and no one will provide for you what your, ‘one-in-a-kind,’ unique…specialness…demands!

Perhaps you want to climb mountains

Or swim in the sea?

Perhaps you want to sing bass

Or buzz like a bee?

Perhaps you like to see the sun shine bright

Or you feel your best in the night?

Perhaps crowds give you energy and focus and love

Or being alone gives you peace like a dove?

Perhaps you like to climb trees or fish in a pond

Or you would rather be Harry Potter with a wand?

Perhaps it is Allah you worship or Jesus or Buddah

Or your favorite food is a cheese called Gouda?

Whatever you like…there is only one you

Or beginnings make all of us feel new!