It hardly seems possible, but our daughter Mackenzie will enter her first preschool class this year. Can it be that much longer before I’m walking her down the aisle and giving her away to another man who really isn’t good enough for her and if he doesn’t treat my little girl with respect, I’ll…Whoa, sorry about that. I guess I got a little ahead of myself. What Mackenzie’s Next Big Milestone caused me to ponder is how often, even during the course of a year, we are presented with an opportunity for a fresh start.We humans can be quirky in so many ways. For example, we look to certain days or dates on a calendar as official starting points for new endeavors or behavioral changes. Take New Year’s Day, the traditional starting point for resolutions covering everything from dieting and exercise to more productivity at work or greater spiritual growth. You might argue that January 1 is the absolute worst day to make changes in our lives, coming after a holiday season filled with parties, spending and excessive food consumption and at the beginning of the longest stretch of winter.Some of us use birthdays as starting points, especially those Big Numbers, like 21, 30, or 50, to assess our lives so far and commit to some positive changes. For somewhat lesser changes—say, beginning a new diet or workout regimen—many will choose Sunday or Monday, to get the week off to a good start. (Of course, by Wednesday, most are wondering where it all went wrong!)It’s not too often that we say to ourselves, “When I’m about 34 years and three months old, on a Tuesday at 2:15 p.m., I think I’ll start writing the Great American Novel.”Yet another time of the year that inspires new beginnings is late summer, around the end of August and into September—”the most wonderful time of the year” for parents of school-aged children, at least according to one TV commercial I’ve seen. From the time we are kids ourselves, we get conditioned to see this as a time to exit the lazy, hazy days of summer, put on our game faces and get ready for some serious work, at least until the end of the year when the holidays give us a brief reprieve.So what’s the point of all this? Just that I think it’s a good thing that we build in times that allow us a bit of a fresh start, to figuratively check our internal compass and commit to corrections in our direction, whether it be related to our personal, spiritual, physical, or professional well being. I suppose unless you are a teacher, the late summer new beginning is never as dramatic as it was when we were in school. Then the slate was literally and figuratively wiped clean.But there’s still something there, something that says we can always do better, always be better, and this just feels like the time to make whatever changes we can to get there.I hope each of you will find at least a moment as we move closer to fall to recommit to your work, to your families and communities, and to yourself. There’s an old proverb I read once that says, “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago and the next best time is right now.”Whatever you dream, whatever you hope to accomplish, whatever you still wish for your life, if it’s still achievable, there’s no time like now to begin to make it happen.
