FOOTNOTE: Starting Over
© By Paul T. Jackson
All of us who are starting over are really at the point of a new beginning. It would be far better to use the term ‘starting anew.’ There are lots of beginnings. There are new births, new jobs, new skills learned, new classes to start, and lots of “let the games begin.” A minister said, “Starting is easy, its maintaining what you started that is hard.”
Starting over, though, really does seem hard. And each time we start over the process can seem more difficult. Sometimes the hard part of grieving just gets done quickly or gets shoved aside in order to take care of needs and goals. My young spouse died, leaving me with a newborn and an 18 month old. I remarried, lost my job, moved, went through many years without a good money generating jobs, later to be divorced, move, regain a professional position, later to leave my job to move across the country to help my son dealing with the death of his young wife.
Asked about resiliency in my profession, and how to be resilient, I said, “people are resilient because they have to be!” Most of us who have had several occasions to start over have done indeed; started anew.
Beginnings can be exciting, traumatic, exasperating, helpful and truly wonderful; sometimes all at the same time. The Roman poet Horace wrote, “Once begun, a task is easy; half the work is done.”
Instead of thinking of starting over, we should all perhaps think of a new beginning. New beginnings is probably a redundant phrase, except we need to remember starting over is as much a new beginning, with all the inherent possibilities, as the first time around. We just need to get rid of all our thoughts of the negative emotions and attitudes we collected on the way. Why is it that we often fear the unfamiliar? For some of us, fear comes to us only after age 35 when we’ve seemingly accumulated all those things that validate our success, and we find it’s all gone. For others it comes when necessary friends and supportive families are no longer alive; some early on; some later in life.
Starting over suggests to the psyche we didn’t make it the first or second time out, making it a requirement to try again. Starting anew however, leaves open the possibilities and opportunities of experiencing all the excitement and newness of a new home or apartment, a new job or activity, or living in a new locale, and adding new friends. And starting anew can also happen any time you want; your decision, not by circumstance.
Isaiah 40:31 NIV
... but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Comments
Paul, interesting thoughts! I have been here on earth for a while----married,had kids, worked, retired, sold our home of 30+ years and moved to a new town, became a grandparent with g'kids in high school, and as a retiree have found a new season of life with the freedom and health to explore new ways to serve, mostly in our church.
When we are younger, we think that our senior years will be calm and quiet with most of life's questions answered. Ha! We've never been the age we are now. So much is new--with the expectation that life will continue to change as the years progress. Who knew that our bodies might not be able to do the things that our mind has planned? Who knew that we would be trying to help our children figure out life as parents, wage-earners, chaffeurs for the children, how to stretch themselves even further, and how to truly find rest in their busy world? And yet, God challenges us to continue to serve.
The amazing thing for me has been that, in each new area where I volunteer, there are new things to study and learn to do my job well. I am naturally curious and have a drive to absorb new information until it becomes second nature. So, as our previous church librarian retired due to health reasons, our two-person library team has had to learn many new things in short fashion. Everything I learn opens up my mind to the vast amount of things I still need to learn. Curiosity, a desire to serve well, and a desire to bring glory to God through ministering to our church body through the library keeps me challenged as we bring a new concept of "the library" to our people. I get excited as I think outside the box as to what our space could become! Starting anew or new beginnings can be really fun!
Thanks for that review ;-) Yes, when my wife and I moved from a house she had been in for nearly 50 years, and moved into senior living, it has become a new life--maybe a career. I was a professional librarian consultant establishing new libraries, in retirement I became a timpanist for many ensembles, and an editor for a fairly large writers association...for 30 years. Now I've become an editor of the senior living residents newsletter...and the fun is getting to know all the new people who will be writing about things they know about. It is an extraodinary time for us...AGAIN!
Yesterday we were also helping out our child; a man with a truck that ran into a tree. We had to drive ca. 100 miles round trip to retrieve him and partner, a four hour trip.