Happy New Year!

Ah, the feeling of a fresh new start. I'm happy today, and calm and peaceful. This is a huge change from how I've been waking up for the past few months - I keep telling myself I'm keeping things low stress, only doing what is important and letting the rest slide - but getting sick this past week proved to me I was wrong. I've been a stressed mess and I've known in the back of my mind my health was slipping away. I'm grateful today to be feeling better and hopeful that it's a sign of good to come in the new year.

Later today I need to get to the craft store and pick up a new journal and then I will write down my intentions for the new year - intentions, rather than resolutions. Life has a funny way of sometimes showing you a new path to get where you want or to change things a little to show you what you really want and I would like to be flexible in a way that resolutions don't seem to be. I want to live in the flow and remain focused on the journey rather than the destination this year. So... will work on putting that into better words on paper in a bit.

I just received this email newsletter from Cheryl Richardson about setting resolutions. I thought I'd share, but her link doesn't have the good part, so I'm going to copy it here.

As I think about the New Year and making resolutions, I wanted to offer
you a few suggestions based on my work with clients and the thousands of
conversations I've had with people over the years. This year, you might
resolve to:

1. Care more about what your soul longs for than what other people think.

2. Make your health a priority, not just because you want to look good,
but because it stops the self-defeating "inner critic crawl" that runs
like a ticker-tape in your head telling you how awful you are.

3. Spend more quality time with loved ones. A quick chat over dinner
doesn't build soul-nurturing relationships like a good, long evening spent
talking about the deeper issues of life, or better yet, a weekend. Invest
your time and energy in the people who matter.

4. Embrace a desire that keeps pulling at you and do something about it.
For example, stop living in cold weather when your heart keeps screaming
for warmth. Get someone to help you create a plan to finally make a move.
Or, don't try to cram yourself into one more year of the 9 to 5 corporate
mold, when your soul craves self-employment or project-oriented work.
Resolve to get out of the corporate world by enlisting the support of a
career counselor or an experienced coach who helps clients make the leap.

5. Dream big! Rather than keep your most important dreams secret, have
the courage to step out and give something big a try.

Happy New Year my friends, I wish you all peace and happiness today and the rest of the year.