Is This the New Year?

I love the symbolism of New Year's. The old has gone, the new has come. A chance to start fresh. A new beginning. This time around, I was really looking forward to New Year's with a special anticipation. 2011 was by all accounts a crappy year. From heart problems to the death of a former co-worker at camp; from a long and difficult summer to a semester full of high school-esque drama. It was not the best year. So seeing it come to an end was something I anticipated with delight. That is not to say that there weren't good things that happened during 2011. There definitely were. My mom and sister visited me at school and we spent a week traveling around the Tri-State area seeing the sights. I stood beside a beautiful friend while she married the love of her life. I made new friends and reconnected with old ones. But over all, I'm glad the year is over. I can put all the crap behind me and move on. I can let go of the pain, the suffering, the heartache, the gossip, and the loneliness. Surely 2012 will be better. A new year, a new start.

That is until I remember that just because it is January 1, life doesn't necessarily change. The things I was dealing with at the end of 2011 continue into 2012. Life isn't as easy as flipping over the calendar page to a new date. The New Year is in many ways just another night. Though I wish it were that easy and the things that hurt ended so quickly.

There is hope though. That is what this New Year's reminds me. Although 2012 hasn't brought a clean slate, it has brought a renewed sense of hope. The symbolism remains important. While I may still be feeling the effects of 2011, 2012 does being hope of something better. It reminds me that the pain of life doesn't get the last word. God remains good. And that is enough to let me look to the New Year with hope. It is a year that will undoubtedly bring challenges. I'm graduating and for the first time don't have a plan for what comes next. I'll be entering the professional world as well and that is exciting and terrifying at the same time. I don't know where 2012 will take me, but I look forward to the adventure.