New Years is a marvelous time.  We look ahead to the year before us with hope and anticipation.  There are predictions of what we think might happen and plans and resolutions* for what we want to happen.

The way we approach birthdays and anniversaries, however, is much different.  These are events to look back and reflect on the year that has past.  While New Years is celebrated at the beginning of the year, birthdays and anniversaries are celebrated at the end, giving them an overtone of, “We survived another one!  Let’s celebrate!”

What if birthdays and anniversaries were celebrated in the same way as New Years?  What if they were a time to eagerly look forward to the year ahead?  What if we celebrated a child’s first birthday on the day they are born?  What if couples celebrated their first anniversary on their wedding day?  What if organizations celebrated the first anniversary of their existence on the day they are formed?

Now I’m not advocating that we rewrite treasured tradition.  However, I do suggest that each and every day is a time to reflect back as on birthdays and anniversaries, and a time to lean forward into the future as on New Years.

Each moment is lived on a fine point in time between what has been and what is yet to be.  Life is a dance of hopes upon a stage built of memories.  This ever shifting place called Now is rich with experience and possibility.  The wonders of a new beginning are there for us, if our eyes are open to see them, and our hearts are open to embrace them.

Happy New Year!  Happy New Day!  Happy New You!

“Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on,
with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.”  Hal Borland

Photo courtesy of AESThetic Photography

*For a great perspective on plans vs. resolutions check out the recent post by Steve Keating – Plans or Resultions?