I find this an interesting time of year.
Christmas and New Year celebrations are over, schools are back and things are starting to return to ‘normal’.
Maybe we’ve made New Year’s resolutions…
(We are conditioned to thinking ‘new year, new start’.)
It’s much easier to commit to getting up early and doing a walk everyday (or whatever) when you’re on holiday.
Once you return to work or your busy routine, these plans (or resolutions) can soon fall by the wayside.
There are all sorts of statistics out there on this, but in general many people abandon their goals within the first week or two.
One survey claims only 36% of people, on average, make it past the month of January.
So when is the best time to make any sort of resolution or new start?
Well, how about now?
I was recently reminded of the quote: ‘The beginning is always today.’
Which essentially taps into the whole idea of mindfulness…
We are only alive in this present moment – so now is the time to make a change.
The quote is attributed to Mary Shelley…
The English novelist best known as the author of Frankenstein.
I find the philosophical depth and positivity of this quote quite remarkable, especially when you consider her life was beset with tragedy…
Her mother died just days after her birth, her father remarried and she left home as a teenager.
Her husband (poet Percy Shelley) drowned aged just 29.
And of her four children, just one made it to adulthood.
That’s a lot of new beginnings to face.
But she kept remarkable company…
Including the poet Lord Byron, who one day challenged his guests to write a ghost story.
This led to what would become Frankenstein – a Gothic horror classic, and considered to be one of the first science-fiction novels.
First publisehd in 1818, she didn’t immediately claim authorship because of the controversial content.
Many people believed it was written by her husband or father…
But in 1831 a third edition of Frankenstein was published which included an introduction describing her inspirations.
A remarkable woman indeed.
So back to the quote.
The beginning is always today
It reminds us that we can’t change what’s happened – that’s in the past.
We can’t control the future, that’s yet to come.
But the current moment offers a fresh opportunity to take action.
You can make a choice to change something now.
To do something different or new.
So rather than always linking changes or a new start, to a new year.
Maybe we should focus on what changes we want to make…
And start today…
Whatever the time of year.
Or to use another great saying…
There’s no time like the present!
Ann 🙏