NEW ENDINGS

A new year signifies new beginnings, which is why, I suppose, so many people like it.

Throw out the old and bring in the new!

What do you do with your old things? Things like clothes, projects or even ideas? Do they sit on a shelf packed away in a box, or filed away in some type of folder gathering dust? What happed to that book you were going to write? How about the idea for that song? Where are those pounds you were going to lose last year? Are they tucked away under new layers of fat or did you in fact free those excess pounds from your body?

Lots of questions to ask and answer in the coming days as the New Year slowly fades into this year.

In looking at all the questions above perhaps the most important one isn’t there; How is the way I do things going to be different this year? If I don’t change how I do something, what I do doesn’t matter. Things will pretty much turn out the same way. Whatever I start may get lost in the efforts I need to put in the middle of doing something or another idea will go to waste.

Beginning something has always come fairly easy for me. It seems I have an idea a minute floating around in my head. So it’s easy to see how one can fall out and I start doing something about it.

Let’s see, what have I started recently? Well, writing this blog is one. Getting a wild idea to go on a poker cruise is another. I started cleaning out my closet. I’m beginning new relationships.  These are a few of the projects I’ve started recently.  Tasks, which are a part of projects, I’m really good at starting, managing and bringing to completion cause the timeframe is so short. But the larger piece, the project itself, I sometimes get diverted somewhere in the middle.

The middle part of something, like managing or maintaining whatever it is I start, has always been a bit of a challenge for me. I may start off like gangbusters, but somewhere around the middle, (perhaps when the hard work or discipline of something comes in) I find myself diverting my time and efforts elsewhere.

One must be careful not to start something new as a way of substituting facing the old thing that they were working on. Whatever the reason we get diverted, perhaps it becomes tediously boring, challenging, or just too damn hard to be worth doing, the excuse or reason we come up with is really at the root of who we are.  

It’s easy to start reading a book, but getting through the character and story development one can fall asleep or put the book down and look for something more interesting. I’ve been taught that there’s a big difference between being interesting and being interested. At the middle point of something, instead of looking to be entertained, perhaps I can focus on being interested in what is going on.

Once you get thru the middle of the book, project, etc., completing it would seem quite easy. Yet “ending off,” completing something can be the most challenging of all the 3 stages of doing something. There’s emptiness, nothingness or a void that we like to avoid at all costs.

Interesting to note: I’m having a difficult time ending off this blog post. I’ve even broken one of the rules in this 31 day challenge by editing. Ugh!

Endings and new beginnings, that’s what it’s all about as far as I can tell. As one year ends new one begins. Same is true whether we are talking about a task, project, relationship or the day itself. Embrace endings and new beginnings and make the best of it. Let me end off by saying this:

The dawn of a new year and a new day is a beautiful thing to experience.  Now let’s get into the challenge of managing it.

Enjoy the Journey!

Kenna