The New Year is a time of new beginnings. It's a time to start over. A poem expresses it this way;

"I wish that there were some wonderful place Called the Land of Beginning Again,

Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches

Could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door,

And never put on again."

Are there some things from last year that need to be dropped at the door of 2010 and not put on in 2011?

Bad decisions? Leave them at the door.

Financial mistakes? Leave them at the door.

Bad thoughts? Leave them at the door.

I grew up on a dairy farm.  And... dairy farms have their own unique "aroma" if you know what I mean.  I mean, we could have plugged in 20 of those glade plug-ins but the barn would still smell like "the barn."  When we came in from the barn, our clothes had the "barn smell.'   If we stood around to much, the barn smell would begin to permeate the room and Mom would  say "get the barn clothes off."   

       Maybe you have some things that represent your "barn clothes" that need to be taken off as you enter a new year.  

Paul said "Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead" (Phil. 3:13-14). Try to put the mistakes of 2010 behind and reach forward to a brand new year.. new opportunities... in 2011. It's a land of beginning again.