Tuesday, January 01, 2008

The Equation of Integrity

Every year January 1st comes. And every year we stay up, watch the ball drop, cheer, and bring in the new year. We look back on the old year, and wonder what that new year will bring. We hope for better things, and look back on both the tragedies and the triumphs. We can look back on what we have learned, and towards what we still need to learn.

January 1st never gets to be an ordinary day. And January 2nd is just the day after New Years Day… still getting used to the new digit we have to remember to write on the year on letters, notes, and cheques.

Then comes January 3rd. Life back to normal. One of the promised days we looked forward to at the end of the old year, a day when things could perhaps be better than they were. A resolution soon forgotten, to make every day like New Years Day. One more chance to start all over, one more chance to change and grow.

I’ve found often I live my life looking forward to the big things… looking forward to a certain day when some event is to happen, or I’m taking a trip, or I know some sort of change is coming. I too often want every day to be like New Year’s Day.

Someone told me once that God didn’t intend for us to live in the big events or expectant of such days, but rather in the inbetweens. The regular days.

I don’t know that I really believe that. I like to think that these big days, these big days are important. But they’re not any more important than the January 3rds. Or the March 14ths. Or the July 30ths. The sum of all these days, the ways we deal with them collectively, they make up who we are.

"We are not made for the mountains, for sunrises, or for the other beautiful attractions in life— those are simply intended to be moments of inspiration. We are made for the valley and the ordinary things of life, and that is where we have to prove our stamina and strength." - My Utmost for His Highest

Our handling of these big days, and the everydays, they add up. Adding together to get the final equation of life.

4 comments:

rebecca said...

Michelle, this is a beautiful post (and I'm glad you're back!)

This is a topic I think of often, and I strive to be happy and fulfilled in my life- good days, bad days, momentous, not so and everyday in between.

It is as if life is a 'connect the dots' puzzle. The big events show an outline of our lives, but it is the smaller, everyday, moments that connect the dots and make the picture more clear, more detailed, more vibrant.

Thank you for such a thought provoking post as we enter the new year.

Percy2626 said...

Hello! Glad to see you are on here again too. Hopefully you had a restful New Year.

I like to think the regular days are how we are able to have the bigger days to look forward too. For one thing, you usually have to work to do the things you want to do. And if every day we went skydiving or some other "big" thing, it wouldn't seem so big then would it?

We just do what we can every day and try to be happy doing it.

Looking forward to reading more of your posts.

Anonymous said...

Nice to see a post - food for thought.
The mountains, sunrises, hoarfrost, rainbows all "Restoreth our Soul"

Anonymous said...

I picked up on the quote from the song "New Years Day", & I'm trying to think of the woman from B.C. who wrote it & sings it. We saw her in concert in Ottawa with Steven Curtis Chapman, many years ago. Carolyn Arens! that's it