New Beginnings

I love a fresh start. They come along in the most predictable way every single day which is I think why so many people ignore the endless possibilities they present. You know another one is coming along tomorrow so squandering today's fresh start offering is perceived as no big deal. Don't think I'm getting all preachy here because I'm as guilty of this crime as the next person and when I become aware of my transgression I do feel a tinge of regret.

But once in a while life provides more significant fresh starts... The new job, new home, new relationship, new school, new year; they are big ones. Hard to miss them and hard to ignore the opportunities they inherently provide you. And there are less significant ones, they come along more regularly and although are not as life changing as a new job or new home, they still offer a new beginning if you choose to view them that way.

I picked up my latest new start yesterday, my new passport. Gone are the stamps, gone is any easily-portable governmental acknowledgement that I have been anywhere outside of my home country. And so of course, when I flip through its fresh, un-creased pages (and get over the shock of how tragically horrible the photo is) all I think of are the countries waiting for me to visit them. My Dad always said he didn't mind my sister and I missing school when we were travelling because we would learn far more from seeing the world than by reading about it and of course he was right.

If, for the rest of my life I had to choose between clothes and travel on which to allocate my discretionary money, I would choose travel (and those who know me know what an epic statement of commitment that is). There is a world of difference between reading an article about the Mona Lisa and looking directly into her eyes. And although I have been lucky to experience so many of the wonders this world has to offer there are countless more that I haven't and even more than that who's existence I am not even aware of.

So my blank passport will not be blank forever and until then, like every fresh start it holds for me a world of possibilities. Let's begin!