It's A New Year- Evaluate Where You Are

As I have said before, I am no better than you.  I am a regular human being with strengths and weaknesses.   I experience success and failure. I stumble.  I fall.  I have to pick myself up, rush off the dust and begin again.  I have to pause to reevaluate life and the choices I made or can make now.  I have moments of joy and other moments of sorrow or regret.  There are days when things go well and more days when things seem overwhelming and impossible to get through.  Like you, I have times when responsibilities seem to overtake everything and the things I enjoy or feel passionate about get set on the back burner to simmer or cool while I put out the fires, provide or support others, deal with unexpected setbacks or emergencies or juggle increasing demands for my time. 

Putting my interests and passions on the back burner is a good way of describing what happened the past months with this blog.  I was enjoying sharing some quotes and thoughts which I hoped would lift someone's spirit or give encouragement.  I was able to share on a fairly regular schedule for several months last year.  I loved what I was doing and wanted to do more.   Life events changed, just as they do in yours, and demands on my time, energy and focus shifted.  This blog, unfortunately for all of us, got neglected.  My thoughts were still here and I often wrote in various places, such as a journal or sticky notes something I thought valuable to share with others, yet choices were made to spend my time in other activities, meeting the needs and requests of others, working and struggling to make ends meet. I even took the leap from renting back to owning a home, including packing and unpacking (which is still proceeding gradually), changing schools and all the inherent expected and unexpected differences in time management and priorities which go along with such a decision.

A new year is beginning.  Like you, I am looking forward to not only what 2017 will offer me but what I can do (or wish to) to make this year one of the best, not only for myself but also for others I care about, which includes you.    So just as I encourage you to forgive yourself, I ask you to forgive me for not sharing more these past months.  I pray I will be able to reach back out to you regularly, touch your spirit and support you through whatever experiences come your way during this new year. 

I thank you for your patience and understanding.  I hope that something I say may be of benefit to  you or someone you know.  None of us live life alone.  There is always someone near or in our thoughts.  So feel free to take anything of value you find in these pages, pass them on or encourage someone you know with your own experiences or thoughts.  

So join me in this new year.  Begin something new or go back to something you put on hold for awhile.  Realign your priorities, demands and interests.  Use this year to improve your own or touch someone else with your talents, abilities, hopes, dreams and strength.   Between us, we have the possibility to make this year one to be remembered.

START - Your own way

I had a friend who recently recommended a book for me to read.  
START: Serve, Thank, Ask, Receive, Trust”
― Richie Norton, The Power of Starting Something Stupid: How to Crush Fear, Make Dreams Happen, and Live Without Regret . 

Although I have not yet purchased this book, the message to START something stuck with me.  When I first heard about the book I thought I wanted to dedicate a single blog to each one of these concepts.  I immediately, went into this blog and set up a draft page for each idea, thinking I would come back to them later.  Well, later took much longer than I had anticipated, as it often does as life does not go exactly as we plan.  However, the thought stayed with me that these five words needed to be shared in some way, as they each really do impact our lives every day. Each one of them is a skill to master. 

The words and order the author of this book had chosen were very good for the message he wanted to share. Yet as the weeks have gone on I realized that the power wasn't in the five words he selected the letters to stand for, but in the very word START.    During the past week I have found that what I really wanted to share here was encouragement to just start something.   I found that the word START seemed to change dependent on my own focus for the moment.    For instance, when thinking about a loved one, the words START stood for Serve, Trust, Act, Receive, Thank.   When thinking about goals at work I found that I wrote START as Set Goals, Time Limits, Act, Review, Think Again.   As I began writing this, and another blog post, START stood for Share (these thoughts with you), Trust (that I can touch a  heart or mind), Ask (you to believe in yourself), Receive (the chance to hear back from you) and Thank (you for your trust and trying it for yourself).  

We all have the opportunity to START.  Some may start something new.  Some may start from a place where they last were.  Some may need to start again after a pause or event.  Some may start alone and another may start with a friend.  Some may start today while another may wait to start tomorrow.  Some may start one thing at a time and stick with it while someone else may start many things at once and then work a little on each as time allows.   However, or whatever, your starting place is or what you want to start, it is perfect.  It is perfect for you in some way.  So I encourage to think about what you want to START and go for it.  Go for it with passion, belief and the knowledge you can and will succeed in some way.  It may not be what you expect, but you will not be the same after you have started that you are at this moment.