A Brand New Notebook

It’s “back to school” time which means the end of summer, but it also means the beginning of a brand new year. Remember what it used to be like getting ready for school? You’d go out and buy new clothes and then spend hours deciding what outfit to wear on that first day. You would worry about what teacher you would get, and whether or not you and your best friend would have the same classes.

You also would start the year out with brand new notebook filled with clean white notebook paper just waiting to be filled up with new facts and ideas and secret notes from your friends. Your pencils were sharpened and your colored pens were ready to draw. The upcoming year was full of potential and you could hardly wait to see how it unfolded.

Unfortunately, as we grow older much of that enthusiasm and anticipation of a new beginning starts to fade. Although fall still represents a new year for many of us, we no longer get the chance to go through the ritual of “getting ready for school”. We may buy new clothes for fall, but we don’t think about buying a new notebook.

We are content to carry around our old worn-out binder; even though the pages are pretty much filled up, and there really is no space left for any new ideas or experiences. As adults, our lives get much busier and it becomes more and more difficult for us to carve out time for new learning. As a result, many of us find ourselves feeling less excited and less focused in our lives. We begin to lose our sense of purpose and direction.

So, this year I invite you to buy a new notebook and begin to dream again. Once you have purchased your notebook, take some time before writing in it to sit with its clean pages and remember what it was like to be young and to be filled with a continuous stream of ideas and dreams. Now staying in your youthful mindset, think of a dream or goal you would like to achieve during this next school year.

This should not be a “to do” kind of goal. This needs to be something that engenders great passion and excitement when you think about it. It should make you smile, or your heart beat faster, or even your palms sweat a little because it is coming from the part of you that is open and courageous. There are no “should’s” attached to this goal. This is something that makes you feel young and energized, and something that will stretch your abilities and learning curve.

Write your goal down in your journal. Notice how it feels to see it in writing. Think about what it will feel like to achieve this goal. Write about being successful. Draw pictures of your success. Develop an action plan including a list of people and structures that will support you along the way. Allow yourself to ask for help.

When negative thoughts or self doubts start to emerge, go back and look of your drawings of success. Laugh and enjoy the journey. When you reach your goal, celebrate your achievement and honor all that you have learned from the experience. Then retire your notebook to a special place on your bookshelf, and begin again with a new book, its clean pages just waiting for your next dream.

A mind that is stretched by a new idea can never go back to its original dimensions. Oliver Wendell Holmes