Happy All!
Shortly after my son moved to Medicine Hat and started working in my private practice, he encouraged me to do some downsizing in the office. I’ll never forget how surprised he was when he found an envelope in one of the boxes. On the front, he had written “Mark’s First Haircut.” His response was, “It can’t be. You really haven’t saved my hair for over four decades!”
Of course I had!
Within minutes we had a stack of “treasures” from his youth, including notes he had written in a fifth grade sex ed class and various forms of artwork. 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 about your first bike, your first day of school, your first kiss. Do you remember when you earned 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 take you on new adventures. But the first fruits also symbolize past, present and future. Having a first means that you leave behind something 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 gather memories for the future.
Sometimes the firsts are wonderful and treasured forever. Other scoops can be painful or uncomfortable. All of them, however, help us to grow and learn.
Well, this week is extremely special because it has so many firsts. 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 back and record what you have seen and done? Are you going to take some time today to relax and give thanks for how much you have experienced and the fact that today is the gateway to new beginnings? Maybe 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’ve got a new scribbler with new pages so you can write whatever you want on it.”
Life is the same. Today imagine you have a new scribbler with new pages, and you can put whatever you want on it.”
What will you write? How will you live? How will you make a difference in the world?
You choose because these scoops belong to you!
