2016 Isn't a 365-page Book

Brad Paisley apparently said, "Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book.  Write a good one."

I disagree.  No day (other than the day you were born) is the first page of your book.  You don't say, "This year is a historical fiction, where I'm a seventeenth century pirate."  A year is not mutually exclusive of other years in a person's life, but more like a chapter in a much larger book of you.  This chapter, like the ones before, is a continuation.  You might begin with a blank page, but the setting and circumstances carry over from where you left off the day before.  

You have the option to change the setting or overcome your circumstances in this chapter.  This year might not be the one where everything turns around because you decide to exercise, get a better job or stop smoking, but choices can change where your book is going.  As the pastor said last week at church, "The direction you're traveling in determines the destination you arrive at."

This year, this chapter, gives you the opportunity to change course.  It doesn't wipe out where you've been or what's happened in your life before-that preceding history is character development- but you can change your destination in this chapter.  If you fail next week, you can keep trying in the next paragraph to progress toward your goal, or change your goal.  As you resolve [rəˈzälv verb 1. settle or find a solution to (a problem, dispute, or contentious matter); 2. decide firmly on a course of action] toward your dreams and desired outcome, keep in mind that this chapter could be the last one in your book, so even if you take time out to be a buccaneer, keep heading in the direction of where you want to be at "The End."