Happy all!
Shortly after my son moved to Medicine Hat and started working in my private practice, he encouraged me to make some reductions in the office. I’ll never forget how shocked he was when he found an envelope in one of the boxes. On the cover, it had written “Mark’s First Haircut.” His response was “It can’t be. You really didn’t save my hair for over four decades!”
Of course yes!
Within minutes we had a ton of “treasures” from her youth, including notes she had written in a fifth grade sex ed class and various art forms. My instructions to him were simple. I said, “These things belong to you. I want you to take them home and never, ever tell me what you did with them.” (You see, I suspected that maybe he didn’t value them as much as I did.)
The former are important and usually have an emotional component. Think of your first bike, your first day of school, your first kiss. Remember when you won your first paycheck, opened your first bank account, or made your first major purchase?
What color was your first car? What was your first date called? And where did you go together?
The former are a very important part of life, as they lead you on new adventures. But the former also symbolize the past, the present and the future. Having a first means that you leave something behind like your youth, innocence or security. It means that you have a new experience in the present where you can gain skills and perspectives. It also means that you will accumulate memories for the future.
Sometimes the former are wonderful and valued forever. Other firsts can be painful or uncomfortable. All of them, however, help us to grow and learn.
Well, this week is very special because it has a lot of news. Today is a new day in a new month in a new year in a new decade!
What are you going to do with this? Will you take time to think about the past and record what you have seen and done? Are you going to take some time today to relax and give thanks for all that you have experienced and for the fact that today is the gateway to new beginnings? Perhaps you are thinking about the future and the goals you want to achieve.
When my kids were little, I would always talk to them the day before school and say, “You have a new scraper with new pages so you can write whatever you want on it.”
Life is the same. Today, imagine you have a new doodling with new pages and you can put whatever you want on it. “
What are you going to write? How are you going to live? How will you make a difference in the world?
You choose because these firstfruits belong to you!