The First Day of the Rest of Your Life

Today was the day I started over again. Fresh start. New beginning.

After years of starting my day with the morning news, today I quit. Yesterday I set the stage by moving a comfy chair in front of the window in my office where I could watch the sun rise, and today I began my morning with quiet.

With my sweet dog, Madigan, by my side and a cup of hot black coffee nearby, I opened

a new devotion, The Pivot Year, by Brianna West. Day one started with, “…will you make the most of what is in front of you now?” This question reminds me of the annoying way my dad woke me every morning during high school, “Today is the first day of the rest of your life!”

It was too early for Dad’s pep talks in high school, but this morning as I read in the quiet, I considered the truth in such thought. Do we not have new opportunities in front of us every single day?

New people to make smile, to impact, to teach and learn from?

New beauty in creation to witness and enjoy in awe?

New changes to witness in ourselves and the world around us to respond to in love and grace?

Yes, today we have in front of us a brand new day. It is a gift. How will we make the most of this gift we have been given?

Before you walk into your new day, here is a blessing that may help:

For Walking Through Doors, from Ordinary Blessings by Meta Herrick Carlson

Before you pass through

stop long enough

to hear your hopes for the other side.

You cannot know for sure just yet,

which paints this portico in adventure.

It’s the unknowable that makes it wild.