“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language
And next year’s words await another voice.”  – T.S.Elliot

Now is about the time that I would stop and take account of the year that has passed.  I would pat myself on the back for the things I had accomplished and I would be mad at myself for the things that I had failed to do.  I am not doing that this time.

I don’t really care, the past is gone and I cannot change it, so there is no point in beating myself up over what has gone wrong.   As far as congratulating myself for what has gone right at this point would just make me rest on my laurels. And I feel I have been resting on my laurels way too much and for too long.

I am making peace with 2016 by understanding that I did the best that I could with the tools I had at that moment.  Perhaps I was lazy and complacent, but that it is what it is, it is done!

What I want to do today is embrace my future!  Time is such a precious commodity.  The time we have is limited and we never know when our expiration date is, so I need to stopping wasting time.

What does 2017 hold for me?  That is not the right question.  The right question is what do I hold for 2017?  How am I going to honor 2017?  How am I going to make it the best year yet?

What do I want in 2017?  And, most importantly, what are the sacrifices I am willing to make to get there?  Yes you heard me right, sacrifices!  I believe that every reward, every goal, every achievement involves some sort of sacrifice.  Without sacrifice there is no reward.  There are small sacrifices and there are huge sacrifices but there is always a price to pay.

Perhaps is sacrificing time with the family, perhaps is letting go of desserts for awhile, perhaps is devoting an extra hour to reading and education.  Perhaps is not contacting a person that is toxic to us.   Whatever it is I want to achieve it will involve my dedicating time, effort and energy.

I am successful, well perhaps your definition of success is different than mine.  To me success doesn’t mean money or material things.  To me success is going after what you want and achieving it.  I have done that and for every achievement there were sacrifices.

In 2017 I decide to sacrifice more, which, actually when one looks at it perhaps sacrifice is not the right word.  The right word is investment .  How much (energy, time, effort, etc) am I willing to invest?

What I know for sure is that continuing to do the exact same things I have been doing day in and day out will not achieve the results I want. I have to put in the effort, I have to let the Universe know that I mean business, that I am not just daydreaming.

I need to decide what I really want.   I need to write my plans down.  Get them out of my head and into paper and into life. What I am willing to do to get things done?  What are the fears I am willing to face?  What comforts and security am I willing to to let go to bring me closer to my goals?

Still I need to be mindful of the realities of life.  There will be things I have to do and there will be things I want to do.  Managing those 2 will be the key.  There are tons of dreams: more travel, more skiing, more culture, etc.   Then there are the realities: bills to pay, family to take care of, a job to worry about,etc.

‘Do more, talk less” will be my motto for 2017!  Writing more will be one of the things I will be trying to accomplish, not only writing here but also work on things such as short stories and such.

I am not going to waste time talking about losing weight or getting in shape.  I spent 2016 talking about it but not changing a thing.  There is no surprise that there were no results. My promise to myself is to try to respect more my body and treat it better.

I am going to take steps to expand, mind, social life, etc.  The idea is to expand my mind, my heart and emit positive energy and attract the same.  I want to make better choices of the people I surround myself with, books I read, films I watch.  Those are the foods for my soul and mind and I want to stop consuming garbage.

Online dating will continue full-force, not only as a tool to find a partner but a tool to know myself and learn about others.  Online dating means HOPE, it means that I still believe and I am still willing to put myself out there and try!

But above all in 2017 I want to make tons of mistakes, I want to do more, fall more and get up more.  I don’t want to play it safe.  I don’t want to be stationary.  I want to grow.  Similar to skiing, in life, if one is not falling, one is not learning!

My hope for you, as well as for me, is that we have the strength to make the changes we need to make in our lives.

“Cutting out drama… Healthy mind and body choices… Intent followed by action… Keeping real friends and letting go of the pretends… Livin’ clean for Twenty Seventeen!” – Steve Maraboli

 

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