Fresh

In the temple of the LORD all are crying, “Glory!”… The LORD shall give his people the blessing of peace. Excerpted, Psalm 29

How are you doing with the new year? Is it still fresh? Is it still new? Are you where you want to be, or at least headed in that direction?

One of the things I like about new things is their freshness. There is nothing like that new car smell. There are no car fresheners or detail shops that can restore that smell, are there?

I like breaking open a box with some new electronic gadget for work or play, and for a moment – a very brief moment to be sure – you get a whiff of that unit’s electronics, protective oils, and possibly even of the Styrofoam packing and cardboard, and all is heavenly.

It is like the scent of a promise made. Wordlessly, the car and the gadget promise speed, power, and performance the likes of which you have not had in a long time. They promise durability and dependability, and I think it is those promises I associate with the smell of brand new things.

Nothing lasts for long, though. New scents grow fainter as different odors take their place in the olfactory panoply of life.

However, I digress. How is your year going? Maybe it hasn’t gone far enough along to evaluate it properly, but does that matter?

Each day deserves to be taken on its own merits. If we take each day as it comes, doing what needs to be done, working out solutions to problems that may baffle us in the beginning, celebrating victories both small and great, we will find ourselves putting together a series of days that we could probably call “successful”.

If we put enough of those kinds of days together, four out of seven, for instance, we could say we have had a positive week.

But even if we have only one day in a week we would call positive, that wouldn’t be a bad thing; that is still better than batting a big fat zero – Goose Egg.

Life is too short to let the little things stink it up. It will never be totally new again for any of us, but each day does start off fresh. If yesterday was bad, we can start off thanking God it is behind us.

Even if we wake up with the same problems we had when we went to bed, we have another set of hours to do something about it. What are the resources you can bring to bear to secure a positive result?

A man went to his therapist and said, “I have no friends.”

His therapist asked him, “What are you doing about it?’

The patient thought a moment and asked, “What can I do about it? I don’t know anybody.”

His therapist made a variety of suggestions: going to church, doing volunteer work, finding a hobby and joining others with similar interests; but the patient rejected each idea. He was more comfortable complaining about his situation than about changing it with action.

It is very easy to let circumstances dictate what we can or cannot do, but ultimately the choice is ours to make. If we want friends, we need to be friendly. If we want jobs, we need to either apply for jobs or prepare to start a business using what skills we have. If we want to make a difference in somebody’s life, we need to be prepared to be there for them.

There are no shortcuts in life; there is only life. We can take it or leave it, but responsibility for the results lies largely in our own hands. How they smell depends largely on what you do with them. I would suggest putting them to use doing pleasant things.

Have a wonderful day and a blessed New Year here in this, our world.