The Promise of Today

There is something significant about the start of a brand new day. The deck reshuffles. The cycle of life starts anew. We awaken to new opportunity. No matter what happened before, there is a freshness to the day.

We may wake up groggy or dreading the agenda waiting for us. But the newness is there. When we despair, it is because the newness feels a lot like sameness. A lifetime of new days has convinced us there is nothing new about today. Just the same old pattern repeating itself. This can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. It’s true if we make it true.

Each day has its unique challenges and frustrations. But each new day is a fresh start, a chance to begin again. In a world so full of imperfection, new days are welcome occasions. They are invitations, opportunities. If you are tired of your yesterdays, fed up with the patterns of your past, look no further than today for a chance to begin again.

Promise

Each new day starts with beauty, with promise. The sunrise paints the sky as dawn ushers in another opportunity to live our best life. The world spins and tags us on the shoulder to let us know it is our turn to participate in the life we have been given.

The world keeps turning. New days keep arriving off the factory line. And it is up to us to fill them in, to make the most of them.

We often squint at the new day with derision. Especially those of us who aren’t ‘morning people’. If we aren’t careful, we can blame the day for our troubles before it even begins in earnest.

No matter how long it takes you to wake up, to engage with the day, the fact remains. Today is a day of choices. And our old choices influence our current ones, but they do not determine them.

Imperfection

Many sunrises go unseen. We make mistakes. We fall short. Every day follows the path of the mood curve. Some days more drastically than others. There is hope and disappointment, joy and sadness. No matter how many bad days we’ve had, there is at least a little spark in us that hopes this will be a better day.

And as the day progresses, things will get difficult. But perseverance is part of the joy of life, believe it or not. It is a key ingredient in hope, a necessary element in character formation, and a staunch reality of every single day.

Hope

Promise is about hope. The product of perseverance. The vision of truth.

An important question facing us every day is where to direct our hope. And although we may not make the best choices every day, truth is there. To steady us. To motivate us. Truth is consistent every day. And every day it offers a fresh opportunity to make new choices. Better choices. Redeeming choices.

The sunrise is a daily reminder that today is a day we can begin anew, and make choices rooted in the reality we can gain from seeing life from a true perspective, the perspective of a new dawn.