By Stuart Adelberg
September is an odd month for those of us who no longer have school aged children in the house. For years, our lives were dictated by the September through June school schedule. It now feels downright strange to wake up on the Tuesday after Labor Day and realize that things are pretty much the same in our home as they were the Friday before Labor Day.
Though we’re no longer headed back to school, September will always be a month of “new beginnings” in our home. As a Jewish family, September brings the High Holidays – a sacred opportunity to atone for the past, clean the slate, reflect, and set the stage for the coming year.
Regardless of how removed I am from school days, September always evokes memories of the lead-up to a new elementary school year. Back in the day, it included a fresh 64 pack of Crayola Crayons, full of colors with strange names – and a new composition notebook, the kind with the black and white marble design on the cover. Do they make these anymore?? What about #2 pencils? I don’t know what #2 meant – but we were told to get them, so we did!! All these new items contributed to the excitement of a fresh start.
I had the same “new beginning” feelings every year all the way through college. I remember trekking over to the bookstore and then being shocked at the quantity and cost of the textbooks for my new classes. Though we were too cool at that age to show it, we were also more than a little excited by the feel and smell of brand new, unopened books – packed with all that knowledge still to come. The excitement admittedly waned as soon as we received the first huge reading assignment!
One of the most important lessons learned throughout my working years and now, in retirement, is the need for constant “new beginnings.” No one likes to stand still, and I always remember the advice of successful businesspeople who taught me that an organization that isn’t moving forward is essentially falling behind. I now understand how important it is for individuals to apply this lesson, as well. Though I’m no expert, I believe that having something new and different to look forward to is one of the keys, at any age, to a healthy life. Of course, as we move through different stages of our lives, the things we look forward to may be tempered by health, physical limitations, personal obligations, and finances, but it is important, to the extent that we are able, to wake up each day with some type of “new beginning” in mind.
My latest “new beginning” arrived four weeks ago as a beautiful hound-mix named Connie, added to our family courtesy of Adopt-a-Dog. She is affectionate, adorable, and playful. Every minute of her life seems to be a “new beginning,” and she refuses to have her puppy energy tempered, even for a second, by the limitations of her new dad. I have found myself asking, more times than I’d like to admit, why I am chasing a puppy at this stage in my life. But she makes me laugh and reminds me not to sweat the small stuff – like that rug she decided we no longer needed! And I am convinced that walking miles every day with Connie is going to keep me around for many more years, healthy, fit, and ready for countless interesting and exciting “new beginnings” still to come! Either that or she’ll kill me! Stay tuned.
Stuart Adelberg has a long history of leadership and active volunteer involvement in the region’s arts and human services nonprofit communities. He appreciates the opportunity provided by Greenwich Sentinel to share his occasional thoughts and observations.
