Ka la hiki ola [ka la hee kee o la] brings us an opportunity to start anew. For me, that is incredibly daunting…..almost as if there is pressure every day to be better than the previous day…accomplish more, take advantage of every minute of every day not knowing how many more minutes we might have.

 But, as I’ve grown older, I’ve learned to stop putting that pressure on myself and really understand what it means to start new. When I’m at my house on Kaua’i, I enjoy sunrise walks on the beach and find myself walking long distances without really thinking about how far I am going, what the day will bring…what is going on at home. On one particular walk, I looked up to the east as saw the sun breaking through the clouds. I felt such a sense of peace. And every walk after that, I looked toward the east to replicate that sense of peace.

It was a new day and day where I would be grateful for being in Hawaii, grateful for my family, grateful to be in that moment and watching the sun rise to a new day. That is when I understood really what is meant by “starting new every day”. It wasn’t about accomplishing and “doing” as much as it was about gratitude and peace.

We start a new year; we start a new month…even a new day…with goals. Take a break from that and start your day watching the sun come up with the excitement of what could happen…embrace that one moment in time where there is peace and anticipation of what is ahead of you.