Our kids headed off on the school bus today to start 5th and 2nd grade. Deep sigh. Of relief, of sadness to end summer, of excitement to start a new year. The first day of school always brings up lots of emotions for all of us.
Last night, I shared this beloved poem with my boys as we discussed how a new school year is a wonderful time to start fresh. Fresh mindset, fresh habits, fresh opinions, fresh breath, etc. We talked about how it’s important that we give ourselves a fresh start as well as our classmates, teachers, and everyone else we encounter at school and in the world. Hope you enjoy it, too.
The Chance To Be New
Everyone should be given
the chance to be new
every minute,
not labelled and charted
and listed
in catalogued classification.
Foolish words
uttered yesterday
are unsaid by the setting sun,
washed away by the new moon tides:
fresh thoughts have already begun.
Release me
from patterned opinion.
Let me be new;
and I’ll tear up the stagnant records
I kept about you.
Everyone should be given
the chance to be born again,
minute by minute.
The world isn’t standing still,
nor anything in it
by Cynthia Hafali-Wells
