A new beginning doesn't always mean starting over. In fact, most of the time, a new beginning means picking up where we left off before but with a new attitude, or a new goal in mind. Maybe with a new sense of direction, or excitement. That's what a new year always brings. New possibilities. And for most of us, that's all we need to refresh us-New Possibilities. The chance to start from a relatively clean plate, a new, fresh start.  

At the beginning of every year, we all tend to look back at the past year and reflect upon all the various things that happened in our lives, so that we can grow and learn from our experiences. We will all notice that sometimes the world made our hearts want to sing with joy, and sometimes it gave us great reason for heartburn. Life is made up of both experiences at the same time. The joyous and the painful, side by side, both bringing us the ability to weigh the situation and make choices that can change our lives for the better, or pull us down, and hold us back.  

A church bulletin I read recently said this: "There are four things that you can do with the hurts that come into your life--- NURSE THEM; CURSE THEM; REHEARSE THEM; or REVERSE THEM. If we all looked back on this year, we probably have responded to varying situations with each of these scenarios in one form or another. I know that I have.  

1.) The loss of a loved one; unintentionally nursing the hurt, instead of moving on.  

2.) My audit with the IRS; I've cursed the loss of time and energy spent on this. (I won, by the way)  

3.) Changing companies, and moving around within the same company; I feel like I've been rehearsing this for two years. I pray that I finally have it right.  

4.) I'm writing now, and speaking more, and spending more quality time loving people who mean allot to me; reversing things. Taking time to do the things I do best, and love best. Keeping my eyes open for the real joys in my life-- encouraging others, and helping them to believe in themselves, following their dreams and setting their goals. Reversing the hurt in others lives, as well as my own.  

This will be a year of unknown events, as other years have been, but it will also be a year of known, planned events. "If we fail to plan, we plan to fail." I am scheduling things now already that will help make this year a tremendous year. I pray that you are too. When you take time to plan your year, don't forget to put specific events in it to encourage the loved ones around you. Use the hurts and painful experiences you've gone through this year to learn, grow, and help others to learn from it too. Try to reverse the hard roads you've traveled and choose to make them an avenue of success. I'm certainly going to make that a new possibility for me this year.