A Joyous Perspective on New Beginnings: On your mark, get set...Reset!

This Friday Night Thought Tale Hour with the Henderson's happens to fall on my very own birthday. As you might imagine, I put a lot of thought into what another year might bring to me. And when you add in that I was born on the 1st day of the calendar year, there's even more for me to work with during my musings. I've tossed around a few terms this past few weeks when considering tonight's post, but then finally, there was one that just kept coming back around. So when a dear friend mentioned it in her post last night, I finally settled on what I wanted to talk to you about tonight. It's a term that one can appreciate at any age, but particularly when you have reached the age I find myself at today. Because once you've lived a little life, made a few mistakes, fell flat a couple of times - you start to realize that life isn't necessarily about a continuum. 

It's more about opportunities to reset.

You've seen that little red button on the bottom of some electronics. Or it might be a minuscule and discrete hole that you have to find a tiny pin to put inside it. It's the reset button, and some consider it to be a very last resort. It usually has to happen when

you've tried to do too many different things with too much fervor and everything is all fouled up. The off and on button won't even work. You worry about pushing the reset, as it can mean losing all the previous effort and information the gadget contains. But if you want to continue to use the thing or keep it working, you are finally left with that one option. Time to hit the reset.

But the good news is, you still know what to do.

You might lose some of the good stuff or information you had in there, but you don't lose your knowledge of how to use it. Most importantly, no one can take away the vision or purpose you have for something. Hitting the reset just means that you are not ready to throw it all away or give up. You have decided instead to rebuild. It's not going to be easy, but it is far more fair.

So now applying this analogy to our lives...

We are often very unfair to ourselves, which is why we avoid the reset button. We get to a place where we know we need to make a change. It can be a relationship, a job, your health, many things. But instead of resetting and taking the time to reorganize, we ignore, ignite or invest in all the wrong things. This only wastes precious time.The time that none of us ever has enough of. And no one knows how much longer we will have to live the kind of life we believe is right for us. Stop being so hard on yourself and repeating the actions that caused you to get so mucked up. Instead, be fair and reset.

So what exactly does that mean?

On this day of starting over, it's a perfect time to push the reset button. I'm not just talking about making resolutions and decisions to make a change. Hitting the reset is more like cleaning out a very messy closet. You

don't go in and just start digging and throwing wildly with abandon. It's a layer by layer process. One pile for keep, one pile for storage, one pile for donating and one pile for the dumpster. And before you start at all, you take an inventory of what you have and where you want to be. That's what is beautiful about a reset. It's a fresh start, but not with all the baggage. 

Resist the urge to follow the crowd. 

The reset allows you to do things your way this time. Remember the last time you wanted to resolve something? You asked around, saw a commercial, looked at a website and then followed the crowds. I want to challenge you to instead, follow your gut this time. Because I believe that most of us know what is best for us, but we just don't want to go it alone. I am suggesting that you build your crowd this time, and carefully select your cheering section. Avoid those folks who will question or doubt you. Lean on those who want to see you succeed in getting that closet organized once and for all!

So Happy New Year, and Thanks.

As we begin another year together, I want to thank you for joining me in my Thought Tales and helping me with my reset. I am turning 56 feeling better than I have in years. I didn't throw my failures out with the reset. Instead, I used them to help me remember that I was an expert. I hope you find your reset this year, and if you need any encouragement, hit me up. I believe in you. So join me as I lift a glass with dear friends gathered together to celebrate a birthday new year, and....CHEERS, FRIENDS!