Well Christmas has come and gone once again, and we now look toward the New Year. I took time yesterday to get all the Christmas decor put away and the house put back to it's pre-Christmas state. Normally I wait til after the New Year's Celebration but for some reason just felt like getting it done yesterday. I must say that I am glad I did it, and even took the opportunity to rearrange the living room. It seems like I just get the house set up the way I want and then I go and do something stupid like move. Who knows maybe deep down deep I know a move is close at hand, but not willing to put voice to it just yet.
So with the New Year fast approaching we all take a look at the previous 12 months and we have a hope that the next 12 months will be much better than the last. It's funny, but as I get a little older I don't focus so much on the past as I do the future. I ask myself what I want for the next 12 months and I take a moment to reflect on the lessons learned over the previous year. I can tell you that I learned an awful lot about myself over the past year. I figured out what I like, what I don't like. I thought about what I wanted to accomplish and had to make some decisions as to what effort I was willing to put forth to accomplish those things. We all have things in our life that we want to improve on. It may be your current relationship, your current job, or even your health and fitness. Let's face it we all make those stupid New Years Resolutions to lose the 20 holiday pounds we just put on. I know this is true because I can't get a parking spot at my local gym for the first 60 days of the New Year. I find that I have to vary my gym times to accommodate the parking. Curse those New Years Gym memberships, they tend to put a glitch in my workout routines. Alas I do need to drop a few winter pounds, not out of need, just simple vanity.
But lets get back to what we hope for during these next 12 months. I know I have said this before, but there are certain things in life that bear repeating and this is one of those things. I have been through more trials and struggles over the last three or four years than I ever imagined and I hope the next three or four years do not prove to be the same way. I have learned that money is no longer my motivation. Don't get me wrong, I like what you can do with money. The comforts it can buy, the fun things you can do with it. But money does not buy happiness. We've all heard that a thousand times before, but I can tell you from personal experience it is true. I once thought that having millions of dollars would make me happy and everything else was irrelevant. Let me say that I have seen and known people who have millions and they are miserable, and I mean miserable with a capital "M". Would I like to have millions? Of course I would. Would it make me happy? Without a doubt, but would it be lasting happiness? Money can make life simpler, but simpler does not always me happier. If you have problems now, you will still have problems with money.
I guess the question has to be asked what does this have to do with the next 12 months? As we approach the New Year we all have a chance to take a personal inventory of what we want to accomplish over the next year. What is the one thing you would like to do that will truly bring happiness to you. I was talking with a friend the other day and I came to the startling conclusion that I have not had a job that brought me true job satisfaction since I retired from the Air Force many years ago. I have also come to the conclusion that the time has come to put into action the things that I have written about over the last few years. It is finally time for me to walk in my destiny and do what I have known I was supposed to be doing for quite some time. My passion is helping others discover their destiny. My passion is empowering people to walk toward their dreams and see the happiness that overtakes them when they finally get to the finish line. If ever there was a time to walk in those things it is now. I've often said that you can only walk along the river bank so long before you fall in. I have been walking around my dreams and goals for far too long and now it is time to jump into them with both feet. I have taken jobs out of fear in the past. Fear that I didn't have enough money and I needed a job that would pay the bills. Was it the perfect job, not even close. Was it a job that brought me satisfaction, not by any stretch of the imagination. Was it anyone Else's fault, not even remotely. What I have done over the last few years was completely my decision to do and no one is to blame for the things that have taken place. The responsibility for my actions rest solely with me and no one else. Do I wish things had been different? In some cases yes and in many cases no. I have learned so much over the past few years. I have learned what I like, what I dislike, what I want, and most importantly what I don't want. I have learned to live with very little, but in doing so it has taught me that most of the things I have is just "stuff" and "stuff" does not guarantee happiness. Just like having a ton of money is no guarantee of happiness. Would I have liked to have had an unlimited amount of money over the last few years, of course I would have. Would it have changed what I have come to understood about myself? The answer to that question is no. I had to go through the struggles of the last few years to understand who and what I am. I had to go through the struggles of the last few years to understand what I really want to accomplish and the reasons I want to accomplish them.
If you are looking toward the future and desiring that it is very different from the past, then you are in good company. We all want better for each new year. We all want to complete the things on our dream list. We all want to look ahead and hope for the best and pray that our dreams come to pass this upcoming year. When we stop dreaming and stop going after those dreams we slowly begin to fade into a place of non-existence. When we stop going after our goals we seem a little more down and depressed. Being down and depressed is no place to be and we need to do what ever we can to get out of that place. I encourage each of you to dig deep over the next few days and weeks and ask yourself what is it that would make me truly happy. What is it that would bring me tremendous satisfaction? What am I willing to do to get to that place? These are tough questions and sometimes the answers will be equally as tough to accept. We often don't ask the question because we don't want to hear the answer. But not asking the question is not going to change your situation or the outcome.
As 2012 looms over the horizon I challenge each of you to take a look at the past and look toward the future with a smile and optimism. I know that 2012 will be life changing for many of us. Life changing because we will forget about the past and look at the future. We will walk in our destiny and thereby enable others to walk in their destiny. We will have the desires of our heart and with that we will be satisfied with our life. Satisfied because we will be doing the one thing that we were designed to do. My wish for the New Year is that each of you come to an understanding of what it is you are supposed to be doing and that you go after it with all the passion and determination you can muster. Hang in there, the next 12 months will be exciting and rewarding, all you have to do is believe and hold on for the ride of your life. Think about it........
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