A New Narrative

Wow!!! 2015 is here and has begun in earnest.  It’s the beginning of a new day, a time to make some New Year resolutions, lose some weight, find a new job, set some goals, improve oneself by taking a few courses, learn a trade, retire, worry less, take a needed vacation or just enjoy life more.   Regardless of what will be your experiences in this New Year, this year will be different for all of us, for we are not the same persons we  were last year. 

One major factor is our development comes from the impact of those events and things that affected us so greatly in 2014.   Those occurrences became a part of our social consciousness and that alone has altered our perspectives, hopes and dreams for 2015.  We all have been changed and challenged by things in 2014, some were good, some were so-so and others have been difficult to comprehend, to say the least. Each of us has a list, counted them twice and prayed about them countless times.  

Last year was something else and we can surely expect that this year will be full of surprises as well.  Many things changed and will continue to evolve as the year progresses simply because we do not know what the future holds.  Will we experience that breakthrough we long for, obtain that degree or training skill needed to move to a better paying job, find success in a new venture that puts us into another socioeconomic level and provides some financial relief to pay off some debts?  Whatever the outcomes, we hope for the best, live through whatever comes and look for better days.             

It’s time for some new words of wisdom, a new manuscript, or some good stuff from the past that has always provided guidance and reasoning for the future.   In the times and era in which we live today, what you say, do and believe in matters.  Saying or doing something that reflects a narrow, shallow or negative way of thinking is not going to work.  My mother use to say...“be careful of what you say for those same words can come back to haunt and bite you.”  Or perhaps the words of Reinhold Niebuhr, a noted theologian, who wrote the “Serenity Prayer” works.   “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”  What do you think?            

Dr. Andrew Calhoun, can be contacted at andrewiiicalhoun@gmail.com, Twitter #AC53, and Facebook.   You can hear Dr. Calhoun each Sunday at Grace Fellowship Church, 3879 N. Port Washington Rd. Milwaukee 414-265-5546.