Happy New Year

Why do I tend to think in terms of endings and not beginnings? What if I could look back and see this past year as half full instead of half empty? What if I could see this new year as full of growth, new creations, new hopes and dreams coming to fulfillment? And when the new trials come, (for they will most certainly come, in a kaleidoscope of shapes and sizes, sometimes in a trickle, sometimes in a torrential downpour) what if I could see them not as failures, not as obstacles, but as the very stepping stones that are leading me onward, upward, homeward? Further up, further in. 

The past year is laid out behind me. I see the shadows that covered parts, the rays of sunshine that lit my way in others. And I see, even on the cloudy days, the sun was shining the whole time. Hidden, perhaps, but always burning bright, hot. I see the new year laid out before me. I feel my fears rising. What is hiding under those clouds? Will this next year be hard, will there be more struggle than peace? Will I be ready for it?

But what if I could see the year as half full instead of half empty? 

I see the sun today. What if I could always remember it's there? He's there. And live like it.

What if?

I've been around long enough to know that a new calendar year is not enough to give me hope. But I've been around long enough to know who really can give me a solid, intrepid hope. And so I'm ready for this next year. I tilt my face upwards, to feel the warmth.