Every year when the ball drops, I like to reflect on the year behind me. The new year has always been a time for me to sit in gratitude for what was and in anticipation for what will be. Like many people, the new year signifies new beginnings. It is a time to set new goals and aim to become a better version of yourself. This new year, however, I found myself thinking more deeply about this idea of “new beginnings”. While the new year is often a time-marker for people to reset and start anew, the reality is that new beginnings can happen at any point. Why do we wait until the new year to define who we want our best selves to be? After all, time is a socially constructed system and varies depending on where you are in the world. For example, I currently live on the west coast and my family lives on the east coast. When the clock struck 12 am on the east coast, I was still 3 hours away from my new year. So at 9 pm my time I called my family on the east coast to wish them a happy new year. As they were celebrating and rejoicing their “new beginning”, mine was still yet to come. Do I celebrate their new beginning with them and then celebrate mine three hours later? Do I contain my enthusiasm until my new beginning arrives? This idea of multiple new beginnings became really evident to me in that moment. In reality, new beginnings can happen at any time. We get to choose. The truth is that every moment, every day, every week, every month is an opportunity for a new beginning. A new beginning can happen the moment after you say or do something you regret. A new beginning can happen the moment you decide to stop allowing fear to run your life. A new beginning can happen the moment you decide to take a risk and follow a dream you’ve been holding on to for a while. Again, you get to choose. Opportunities for new beginnings need not wait for a defined moment in time.

So as you imagine your own moments of new beginnings this year, I leave you with a prose that I wrote a few years ago. Each day that you are blessed to wake up and experience this thing called life, consider the following:

“Yesterday was yesterday. Today is today. Cast out your doubts, fears, and regrets of yesterday into the depths of the sea. Now step outside the box, take a deep breath and tilt your chin to the sky. Be unapologetic, own it, ask for it, and create a new yesterday for tomorrow.”