Lisa Hood

I opened my day timer today and saw a blank page. I am usually confronted with a page full of scribbles, appointments, reminders and goals. Seeing that blank page this morning reminded me that every day is a new beginning and we choose what we write on it.

I can fill my day with unfinished business of the past or I can start today with an eye on the future.

How many blank days have I filled with regrets, unfulfilled desires or unresolved conflicts? Too many to count. I’ve wallowed in regret for a past squandered in idle pursuits and grieved the books unwritten, the games never played and the friendships never forged. I’ve focused on the shortcomings of my circumstance rather than the blessings bestowed. I’ve refused to forgive my father or the boy in 5th grade who called me fat. I hold tightly to every slight, insult and betrayal, rather real or imagined so they may never be forgotten.

But today my page is blank and I realize I get to choose what to write upon it. I choose to write faith and hope that I will succeed in my pursuits. I choose to give thanks for the people who I love and who have loved me in return. And I choose to let go of a hurtful past so one day I might not remember it so vividly.