Reclaiming The Newness: Going Forward By Going Back

I'm thinking of the millions of parents who sent their children back to school after a summer filled with camp, theme parks, vacations, hanging out and visiting family and friends in distant places.

Even more so, I’m thinking about all the young men and women venturing forth to colleges  to start the next chapter of their lives.

In moments of wistfulness, I wished I was one of them.  I remember what it was like putting together a new school wardrobe and getting a new book bag and new school supplies to fill it. When I was a kid, my favorite smell was the smell of new things.  When I started college (actually it was art school – Parson’s School of Design to be exact), I was so excited I couldn’t sleep.  I kept wondering about all the people I would meet and the courses I would take.  I wanted to be the best I could be.  I worried a bit too. Would I be as good as everyone else?  Would I make friends? How hard would the work be? But none of those worries kept me from being excited at the prospect of starting this new chapter in my life.

Many of you will feel the pull-strings of wistfulness, wishing that you too were starting a new life, a new job, new relationships, even as you push your children out the door toward school buses and carpools.  You’ll have a moment of desire that may disappear just as quickly as it came.  But if that desire lasts longer than a moment or won't go away, maybe you need to think about where your life is going?  Do you wish you could go back to something you abandoned?  Why not take hold of the moment and declare your intentions out loud.  “Today is the day that I too, begin something new.  I will pursue what I desire and I will become all that I desire to be.  Today is the day that I start dreaming a new dream for myself.”

Guess what?  I have recently renewed my intentions toward a goal I started long ago by returning to school this September and it feels wonderful.  I’m in a pinch-me state of mind and can’t wait to get started.  If it feels this good getting started on something new, I would like to spread it around by sprinkling it around on every person who has ever felt that desire to begin anew.

Please wish me well because I want you to be well too.  Use what you know to get where you have to go.   Like me.  Let’s continue laughing and growing together – I will be checking in on you and I can’t wait to hear what you have been up to.

In the spirit of wishing you CWW Career-Wise Ways...!
SJ