Out with the old, In with the new.....

A new year is always confusing for me as I'm always reflective about what the last year brought to me and

what the new year will bring in lieu.  As I began my morning with the hopes for a run today, I begin to lace up

 my new running shoes that my lovely wife gave to me for Christmas.   My new shoes lay next to the pair that

they replaced, the stark contrast of their condition striking me as similar to my apprehension of the new year.

The first thing I noticed was that my new shoes were white, shiny and brilliant in color.  They are not marred

with dirt, mud, grayed from months of running in snow, mud, rain and flood waters. Such is the approach of

the new year our hopes, our dreams shiny and brilliant, yet to be put through the obstacles that we will face,

the lack of a job, some unexpected tragedy, or perhaps money issues that will little by little gray the brilliant

colors that we imagined not so long before.  I also notice in closer inspection the that the heels of my shoes

are not the same.    My new shoes have a full tread, while my older pair has a significant amount of tread that

has eroded away with each step I took in them.  I will no doubt be the same one year from now.  The

constant movement in life that cannot be avoided will wear away another year on me like everyone else,

leaving lines etched in my face, perhaps eroding my hairline, but most certainly it will weaken me with age the

 inevitable mark that no man can overcome or outrun.  My older shoes also appear to be shorter in length

then my newer ones.  An illusion as both are the same model and size, yet it reminds me that past years seem

to have gone by so quickly, time marching on faster and faster, ever decreasing circles at ever increasing

speeds seeming to short change me as if the promise of a new year is replaced by the realization that it is gone

as another approaches.

Please don't get me wrong, I love my old shoes as I have loved my life.  They hold many memories both good

and bad for me.  They remind me of days where I felt 16 again, alive and young living in the moment and the

moment was glorious.  Of days where each step was a struggle, the next more painful than the step before an

agonizing journey that in the end strengthened me physically, emotionally and mentally.  They bring back

scenes to my mind of misty mornings on the river, raging flood waters surrounding our city and the indomitable

 spirit of man to overcome such adversity.  My shoes like the years have carried me there and these things I

cherish greatly.  Yet, I am humbled as I finish tying my new shoes.  There is such promise in them as there is

promise in a new year.  Each step they take me brings me to an unknown journey, perhaps to a place I've

never been, seen or imagined existed for me.  They most certainly will carry me through the mud, snow,

water, good weather, bad weather and I will certainly get out of them what I put into them.  I suppose life and

 the next year is certainly like that, I will get out of it what I put into it.  Run on my friends, it's the glory of a

new year.