Day Zero

It’s the first day of the rest of your life.* Ready?

I used to quietly not really believe (“quietly not really believe” = hope) that Big Change occurred or happened to you or was magically and wondrously sprinkled on you like pixie dust or struck you in the heart with the force of lightning.

I waited patiently. I kept an eye open. I dabbled in Small Change.

Although it’s possible for the big lighting strike, it’s not healthy to depend on it or even hope for it. I’m a recent inductee into the Small Change Leads to Big Change club. It’s a group of go-getter entrepreneurs who build, create and progress Every Single Day. Chipping away at Small Change knowing it will lead to Big Change.

But today is Day Zero. It’s the first day of the rest of your life. As we leave San Francisco and start on a new adventure, I can look back and say with a deep sigh, “Damn, that was a lot of work.”

The bottomless pit of stuff, the endless decisions, the doubts, the less-than-what-you-could-call-enthusiasm from the kids about theme and many of the rational reasons point to, “What the hell are we thinking?” But I’m not thinking rationally. I’m not thinking with my brain. I’m thinking with my heart.

It’s Day Zero and my brain just got demoted. My heart is in charge and she’s not wasting any time. The past is tossed into the recycling bin and we’re living today with a sly, secret smile knowing what the future brings: the future brings the unknown.

It’s Day Zero and the past is the past. It’s over. Thanks for the memories and we’re moving on. We’re armed with only suitcases, a dog and passports and I have no idea on this green earth what the coming year will bring and I’m not sure I was more excited when I was two-years old and grandpa gave me a ball to play with. The possibilities are endless, open and we own them.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Today is your Day Zero. What are you going to do to alter, even if ever so slightly, the trajectory of the days ahead? What tiny action might you take today that you’ll look back on as a turning point?

The day belongs to you. It’s yours. What are you going to do with it?

• Possible: repeat yesterday
• Impossible: invent tomorrow
• Repossible: make today yours

* It’s a bit of a loaded question because every day is the first day of the rest of your life. But, of course, that’s the point.