If you’ve ever struggled with moving forward, turning a new leaf, or living out your vision, then you know how easy it is to get stuck in all the things you should have done.
You should’ve written the book.
You should’ve gone on the date, walked out on the date, or stopped picking up their calls.
You should’ve started the podcast, YouTube channel, or nonprofit.
On and on and on, an endless reel of what ifs and shoulds and if onlys.
You already know this, but I’ll say it anyway: Cut it out.
Cut. It. Out. Cut it all the way out. Do it today, not tomorrow or next week.
It’s been a rough few years. So many things and people died. So much has happened and is still happening, and life goes on whether you get with the programme or not.
Stop Waiting For Your New Life “Later”
Don’t wait for a special date on the calendar to change the way you live, love, serve, and show up in the world. Don’t wait for New Year’s, your birthday, or the next quick fix to handle your business.
Today is your new beginning. Step out today.
Everything fresh and new is in today. Everything alive and malleable to change is seeded today, not yesterday or last week or even last year. Anything you can build, release, create, design, or fund into being can only gain traction today, not yesterday.
Even the promise of tomorrow is based on the premise that tomorrow will be better than today.
That’s a lovely thought, but it only blooms into fruitful reality when you recognise that how you live today will shape how you live tomorrow.
Crush Your Excuses Today
Let me tell you my story.
In 2019, I make a commitment to publish a new blog post every Thursday no matter what. It doesn’t matter if I feel like it or not, if I like what I write or not, or even if anyone reads it at all. When it’s Thursday, I better have a post up, or I’ll be breaking my promise to myself and sabotaging my own growth.
Ooh, calling out my excuses like that? Game on.
So I publish every Thursday. Every Thursday. 52 posts in 1 year as opposed to 15 or 20 if I’m lucky, LOL. It stretches my brain and commitment to creativity almost to breaking point, but it also grows my writing like I threw a tub of gasoline on a bush fire.
I write from a deeper, sharper place more often than ever before, and by the end of the year, I like most of what I have on here. Most, because a few were absolute clunkers in my opinion, but I digress.
Some Thursdays I’m prepped days or even weeks ahead of time. Other Thursdays I’m eyeballing the blank page and it’s daring me to write a single word if I think I’ve got it in me. Ever won a stare-down with the blank page or screen? It’s heady stuff. Great to boost your morale when you think you’re all washed up, LOL.
On the days I think that I just can’t make it before midnight, I remember that today is a good day to birth something new and maybe even discover something fresh. It’s a good day to write a love letter. It’s a good day to show up, make an imprint on the page, and release it into the wild to make a difference in someone’s life or heart, even if it’s just 1 person.
So like the fascinating creative Isa Adney always says, I “keep going.” I write the words, speak the truth, dig deep for gold, and all that good stuff. It’s hard and challenging, but it’s also beautiful and rewarding.
Vault Over Roadblocks
There’s a twist, though.
I don’t write 52 posts in 2020, I write 11. 0 in 2021, 3 in 2022.
What happened?
Life happened. COVID happened. Heartbreak happened. Burying dreams and a business happened. Like I said, a twist.
But.
But.
But.
Today is my new beginning. Today is your new beginning. Today is our new beginning. And today is a good day to start over and do it different.
What will you see when you look back over your life 5, 10, or 15 years from now? What will you see when you look back over your life in your old age? What do you see when you look back over your life now?
Personally, I see a lot to celebrate and a lot I wish I could erase. I see passion and suffering, love and betrayal, euphoria and despair, creativity and broken dreams. And more recently, I see Jesus and greater faith than doubt. It’s a process.
When I look back over my life 5, 10, or 15 years from now, I want to see a lush array of beautiful little moments. Singing my heart out in worship to Jesus. Laughing so hard with my family that I can’t breathe or think straight for a minute or 2. Sharing my faith in God without thinking I’m going to die from embarrassment or rejection, haha. Growing deeper friendships, experiencing true love, building things that last because I’m building them in Jesus, not in myself or what I think I can pull off on my own.
When I look back on my life in my old age, I want to see Jesus front and centre. I want to see deep love, robust faith, and radiant creativity. I want to see a warm home full of my babies and grandbabies, an airtight crew, incredible relationships. I want to see vibrant life, shimmering beauty, and luscious colour. I guess you could say I want to see poetry in motion.
All of that starts today. I can’t change my past, but I can change how I show up for today. I can’t turn back the clock 15 or 20 years (wouldn’t that be fun?), but I can be intentional and all in for the next 15 or 20 years. Nothing lives in my past, but so much richness lives in today.
Start Over Today
I don’t know where you’re at right now. I don’t know how the last few years, decade, or even your whole life have been for you. Maybe you’re riding high on success, or shuddering from soul-crushing grief and failure, or something in-between.
But one thing I do know is this: Today is your new beginning.
Joy lives in today. Faith lives in today. Momentum lives in today. New life and love and dreams live in today.
So, bless your past and release it. Bless your past and forgive it. Bless what has been and recognise what can be in this moment, and get excited about that. Get invested in that. Get intentional about and stay focused on that, not on what’s behind you.
When you look back on your life after today, you can see a lush array of beautiful little moments, but you do have to plant something worth looking at first, and no one else can do it for you.
Scatter fistfuls of beauty today, right now, because when else are you going to do it?
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