50 Days 'til 50: Day 1 - Beginnings

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New beginnings it seems to me no matter how big or small can pose all sorts of challenges and speed bumps. Beginnings also make me excited, a bit nervous, and usually hope-filled for the possibilities of what a new beginning will bring. I think of beginning a new job, beginning again in a new town or city, beginning a new relationship, beginning a new project (and trust me, I’ve began many) and all the emotions that these types of events can produce in me. On one hand these beginnings are when I feel the most alive, the most open-minded, the most positive, the most…well, the most me.I also suspect for the most part there can't be a new beginning without the end of something else. If I'm beginning something new, it’s usually because something old wasn’t working anymore. Its been proven to me many times in my life when something ends, with or without my permission, another layer of the proverbial onion peels away and I'm left renewed, sometimes beaten down, and hopefully better for whatever it was I left behind. Sometimes it will reveal itself quickly and sometimes slowly and worse yet, I'm doomed to repeat the same behavior all over again.New to the blog scene and this being my FIRST blog post ever (my hope is to blog a series of 50 posts, one each day leading up to my 50th birthday in August), this IS the beginning of a new chapter for me. Yes, I know we make a big to do about this milestone birthday and I’ve heard from many people “its just another day” to the other extreme “it was the day my life began”. I suspect I will fall somewhere in the middle. I'll let you know in 50 days what happens. To live in a time where it's so easy to put the words to electronic paper, to have the chance to honor people, places, and things in my life that have left me my life lessons to this point, I think to myself sometimes how can I not do this? How can I not at least try?In the meantime lets see how this blogging thing goes. I’m ready for the challenge, the journey, and the hope that you will join me on this trip through the magical and the maladies, the pathetically pompous to the profoundly personal, the hilarious highs and the humbling hard times, the sorrows and the soaring. The hope that my stories will somehow resonate with your stories as we share this human experience together. This is for me, this is for you, and this is what turning 50 looks like. In the words of Browning, “the best is yet to be”.So let us begin…