a Happy New Year! It’s up to you… every day

calendar-your-year1
So here we are:

A NEW YEAR.

Now I know
a lot of  people around
the new year have spent
time making resolutions
to finding solutions to
those things that weren’t
quite so right last year.
A new year -
what better time
for a fresh start, right?

Well, my optimistic friend -
let’s ignore the statistics that
show how many people do
NOT keep their resolutions,
and never mind those nasty
numbers that show a third
have given up before January
has flipped it’s final page.
You and I will keep our blinders on
as half of those “other guys”
fall out of the Resolution race !

But, before you dig in those new cleats -
I’ve got to ask you this question:

What’s different?

OK, I lied.  There are several questions.
Yet they’re all going after the same answer:

What’s new about this year?
What’s changed from last year?
What will happen this year
that didn’t happen last year?
Why will THIS YEAR be so different
than last year, and did you say the same
thing last year about the year before?

If you find your brain stuttering and stumbling for an answer,
you’re not alone.  I mean, let’s face it – simply because
we turned a page on a calendar did not give us magic powers,
did not produce a winning lottery ticket, nor make us
smarter, better looking, wittier, luckier, or funnier.
Flipping the page from 2017 to 2018 gave us nothing
that the day before didn’t have or lack.

So now that I’ve completely let the wind out of your sails,
allow me the great news that you just read and probably missed.

Flipping the page from 2017 to 2018 gave us nothing
that the day before DIDN’T HAVE OR LACK.

I am happy – ecstatic really, that you honestly believe
that somehow THIS year will be THE year
where things will finally be different
and that THIS is going to be
YOUR year to shine.

Because that says you have hope that it can.
That’s the spark.  That’s the first step!

Yet I want you to be crystal clear on this:
2018 will not bring you anything more than you bring to it.

The same brain and brawn that didn’t see
your resolutions through last year
are right here with you this year.
Welcome back.  Nice.

Again, the answers to those questions I asked earlier
are going to open up doors for you if you answer honestly.

Because if you do nothing differently,
you will join those 50% who have failed and/or given up
on their New Year’s resolutions before July comes calling.

If you do the same things you did before
and follow the familiar patterns you know so well,
Why expect 2018 to bring you anything extraordinary?

YOU need to be extra UN ordinary
to make the extraordinary happen,
because if you keep doing what you’ve always done,
you’ll keep getting what you’ve always got.

Something to keep with you, and then I’ll let you
get back to keeping your New Year’s resolutions.

The best things this year
will be created by You,
a result of both what you do
and how you are being.

The numbers on a calendar do not make a year,
and moments in our lives are not marked.
Each come to us as the other -
to see what we make of them,
and what we are made of.

I wish you a very Happy New year,
and hope you don’t stop at wishes -
but stretch yourselves to create
not only a great year,
but a great Life…