As long as we live, we never run out of Firsts. When elementary school is over, it is followed by high school. Soon after that comes another first, be it a first day at camp, college, a new job, a volunteer position, a new neighbourhood, country, friend, restaurant, or pair of socks. Firsts never run out. I suppose, even our final day can be our very first Last Day.
Driving to a new job recently, I pondered the reality that only superficial things change as we experience Firsts. Indeed on that 'first day', I wasn't riding a pink Strawberry Shortcake bicycle to my first day of Grade 2 or 3, armed with a fluorescent pink Barbie and the Rocker's lunch box (the one with the built-in thermos compartment), accompanied by my best friend, and a major case of jitters. The trusty pink two-wheeler was swapped out for a four-wheeled, highway-capable Nissan; I was armed with my trusty Nalgene Bottle and the knowledge that my best friend was thinking of me from the other side of the hemisphere. The jitters were still present though!
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First Days and their inevitable jitters are a right of passage. If there are no Firsts, there is no movement. If the First isn't accompanied by jitters, the question begs asking, "If it doesn't freak you out -just a bit - is that First even worthwhile?" Firsts are good. As much as it would be nice to skip their temporary discomfort, that blip of angst on the radar of Life really says "You're alive!"
As long as we are alive, there will be Firsts; the two are inseparable. I'm grateful for my First Day at a new job, in a new place, with new co-workers, and I look forward (with some jitters) to the next First, because as long as I can see it coming, I know I'm alive...and I'm happy to be alive.
