Begin again with hope

When things go bad, can we really start over? When life takes a turn for the worse, can we actually begin again with hope that things will get better? After losing much of his life savings due to someone else's mismanagement, one man said, "Starting over was tough, but if we didn't try, we would have been hurt twice once by our loss and once by our own giving up." 

Each of us is bound to lose now and then, and once in a while we may want to quit. But even the worst setbacks can be opportunities to make a new beginning.

A small boy, playing a rough-and-tumble schoolyard game, was frequently knocked to the ground. Each time, he picked himself up, dusted himself off, and rejoined the game. When asked why he didn't just quit, he declared, "Quit? I'm here to play the game!"

The New Year is a perfect time for starting over. This is a special time when we can decide to get back up when we've been knocked down. We can find renewed courage to keep going. We may need to forgive someone who has offended us or forgive ourselves for mistakes we've made. Perhaps we need help learning to do things differently so we aren't knocked down again but we can always move forward. 

Each New Year represents a new beginning. And hope for a brighter future can dawn with each new day. So even when life hits us hard, we can get up, dust ourselves off, and get back in the game.