Each Day Anew

The Preface For quite some time, I have wanted to write a book. I enjoyed creative writing as a child and was encouraged by one of my English teachers to submit essay and poetry selections to several publications. Throughout all my writings, whether poetry contests, school assignments or personal journal writing, I have found that expressing myself through words is very fulfilling. It has also become an effective tool for processing my life experiences and growing through the seasons of life. Seasons that included periods such as the turmoil of adolescence, the pursuit of education and career, as well as the joys and challenges associated with marriage and parenting. Over the years, I have continued to think about writing a book and even talked about doing it. During certain periods of my life, I have been consistent about journaling my thoughts and feelings. With the onward march of time, I now find myself an empty nester, which provides a perfect opportunity to pursue this challenge and lifelong dream. Whether we realize it or not, each of us is in the process of writing a book, and each day is a new page in our own personal story. My entire life is my book, filled with a variety of elements. These include such things as faith and circumstance, dreams and reality, joy and sorrow, acceptance and hope. I find that I experience more enjoyable moments and successful outcomes in the various chapters of my life when I focus on maintaining a positive outlook. One way I do this is to consider each day like a new page in this book of life I am writing. The paper on which I write I call my opportunity to respond and the tools with which I write are the attitudes and beliefs that shape my responses to the happenings in my life. Although the topics are often chosen for me by the circumstances of each day, what I choose to write (how I respond) is always under my control. Experiencing a lifelong chronic disease that has progressively limited my physical abilities and created a myriad of emotions has proved extremely challenging. It has been through the process of writing that I have been able to maintain a healthy balance in the way I respond to them. I have discovered that when I face each day anew then life becomes more bearable, more interesting, more purposeful, and even more enjoyable and hopeful! Some of these discoveries I plan to share with you in the pages ahead. Perhaps you or someone you know yearns for a new beginning or a fresh start. My desire is to offer a way to approach life with optimism and hope. I want to encourage a life view that embraces life with all its ups and downs, twists and turns, periods of confusion and change as well as times of clarity, peace, and rest. As you read about some of my life's experiences and reflections, I hope you will become excited about your own stories and the book you are writing with your life. I wrote the poem below over forty years ago which is still applicable today. It will give you an idea of the theme of this book. Give thought and consideration to how you, too, can approach each day as your “paper of opportunity” and then determine to begin “each day anew! EACH DAY ANEW GROW . . . Do not be afraid to reach upward toward tomorrow. Shed the leaves of yesterday. Do not be so rooted to the past that you do not continue to sprout forth and grow. With the passing of each of life's seasons there can be painful changes and seemingly unending dormancy. But take heart! There is always the promise of another dawn, an awakening to the brilliant freshness of another day and a brand-new beginning! KNOW. . . That every day is like a blank tablet waiting to be written upon. The pages of days gone by are yesterday's story. Today begins a new page in your own book of life with great possibilities for enjoyment and adventure if not left on the shelf to collect dust. Live out each daily scenario as if you are part of Life's number one best seller! So, GROW in the knowledge as each day comes due, and KNOW that by faith you can start EACH DAY ANEW!