Happy Fresh Start Day!

In just 19 minutes, I am going to stop what I am doing and -- like Peter Pan and The Lost Boys clapping to save Tinkerbell -- I am going to clap my hands because I believe in fresh starts.

Or at least I am trying to convince myself I do.

It is, afterall, 1.1.11.

And that  just begs for a symbolic beginning to a fresh start, a clean slate, as I embark upon a brand spanking new year. So, at 11 minutes after 1, I am going to clap. Twice.

The clapping thing is not my idea, it is the brainchild of my Facebook friend, Laura, at Lifeworks Coaching.  I commented on her FB page that I wanted to believe in fresh starts again...and she suggested the Tinkerbell approach.

A fresh start is a leap of faith, Laura admitted.

Ah, a leap of faith.

I'm actually no stranger to leaps of faith.  My credo, once upon a time, was "leap and the net will appear".  In fact, if you scroll down to the bottom of The Home Stretch, you will see that it was designed by "Leap And The Net Will Appear Enterprises".  Yeah, so I leapt a couple of times. One time, the net appeared. The next time...OUCH. And after that, life just grew tragic and troublesome.

But because I am desperate to turn my life around while I am still able to turn, I'm gonna give it another go.

So, in 13 minutes, my fresh start, my new lease on life, my new attitude, my leap of faith, officially begins.

Ironically, (perhaps to test my resolve?)  I just accidentally deleted this entire blog post, and had to start all over. No lie.  The old me might have thrown a hammer through the Mac, or kicked the cat....but I just laughed.  HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHA.  OK, so it was a cynical, maniacal scream...one step at a time, folks.

Eight minutes to showtime.

Part of turning over my new leaf is to make healthier choices when it comes to food (notice I do not use the "d" word).  Apple over Oreo...lettuce salad over chicken salad croissant...small container of low-fat yogurt over random, unending spoonfuls of Moosetrack ice cream straight out of the carton...

And I'm going to continue to make my bed every morning before I feed the cats or make coffee...messy bed, messy head, my friend Susan always said.  Or was it Susan?  I dunno --my memory is shot.  Which leads me to another leaf turner.  Gonna play more Sequence and Scrabble to keep my noggin sharper.

Four minutes.

Oh, and I am going to write every day.  Some say blogging isn't writing, but I call it cyber penning and in my mind, it counts. Having said that, I'd like to thank another Facebook friend, Rick, at Middle Aged Crazy, for his encouragement because, as he says, being creative can save your life.

It's 1:11 on 1.1.11!

CLAP! CLAP! LEAP!

I believe!  I believe!

1:31 p.m.

So far, so good.

I'll keep you posted...