Let’s see.  There is the good and the not so good.  We watched our new president settle into his first year in office.  There were the economic woes that left no one untouched.  Families were separated by another year of conflict overseas.

And 2009 held plenty of enlightenment.  At least, enlightenment for me.  I took me all year to realize this but I am in control of my future.  What happens to me is for me to decide.  It is my own doing.  From the amount of happiness I enjoy to the size of my bank account, the buck stops here.  With me.

I have learned I must continually educate myself in order to grow.  If I am not growing, I am dying.  The success of my  business depends on me and me alone.  Set the vision and then chart the course. The more clear the vision, the more quickly I’ll get there.

I have also realized I am my own worst enemy.  I knew I was my own worst critic but the enemy thing was hard for me to swallow.  All too many times I have gotten in the way of my own success.  I haven’t totally figured out how to side step myself but I am working on that.  I’ll keep you informed of my progress.

One of the biggest things I have learned this year is I need to be more open and receptive to love.  For far too long I have built walls around me and my heart to protect me from the pains of the world in which I dwell.  If people can’t get through my walls, I can’t receive the love they offer. There is no two way street through a brick wall.  If I can’t receive it, I can’t give it either.  Life here is too short for that to occur.  Next time I see you, tell me you love me and enjoy me being in your life.  I do that as often as I am able.

Be true to yourself.  Be the person you were meant to be. Be open to your own greatness.  Be open to receiving the joy and happiness people and things around you have to offer.  Give your dog a good tummy rub.  Go for a stroll with your sweetie.  Take a nap in the sunshine.  Enjoy all those small blessings that make your life experience deep and interesting.

I’m shooting for the stars in 2010.  Hope to see you on the way.

Here’s to the making your new year your personal best.

Happy New Year!

If you need inspiration, read this.  It should really fire you up!

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death.

Set God-sized goals.   Pursue God-ordained passions.

Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention.

Keep asking questions.  Keep making mistakes.  Keep seeking God.

Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution.

Stop repeating the past and start creating the future.

Stop playing it safe and start taking risks.

Expand your horizons.  Accumulate experiences.

Consider the lilies.  Enjoy the journey.

Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can.   Live like today is the first day and last day of your life.

Don’t let what’s wrong with you keep you from worshipping what’s right with God.

Burn sinful bridges.  Blaze a new trail.

Criticize by creating.

Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks.

Don’t try to be who you’re not.   Be yourself.   Laugh at yourself.

Quit holding out.  Quit holding back.

Quit running away.

Chase the lion!

Taken from The Community Fellowship’s series of Chase the Lion adapted from Mark Batterron’s In A Pit With A Lion on a Snowy Day.

I remember when I completed that blog, I did feel extremely empowered and thought I could fly off any tall building and outrun speeding trains.

I still do feel empowered.  Which is why I thought I would take each point in the original blog and build on it.  Here is the first….

Divine wisdom guides me. Divinity is guiding me to make the right choices and continuously guides me in the realization of my goals.

I have always considered myself a fairly spiritual person; not necessarily religious.  That doesn’t mean I don’t believe in organized religion.  At times, I feel the need to be in church and participate in the ritual of worship.  But I also find I can be close to my God when I am in my garden or with my doggies or just being with my mom and enjoying the silence as we watch a beautiful sunset.  God’s wonder and majesty is all around us.  We just have to be still and take it all in.

I also believe there is a plan; a divine plan.  There is a reason for everything.  There is a reason for every person you meet and every experience you have had.  I ask for guidance and I receive it.  Now whether I pay attention to it all of the time is a whole new blog post.  I can be pig headed and stubborn.  I usually want my way and I want it now.  Anyone else ever feel that way?

It took several years of practice to still my mind…to keep it from wandering off to my checklist du jour, but I do have moments without ADD to be still and listen.  And then listen some more.  When I take the time to absorb what I hear, I know I am being led to the realization of my goals.

I don’t perform brain surgery.  Nothing I do is a matter of life or death to anyone else on the planet.  But I do make a difference.  We all do.  However small and maybe to only one person during the day, I do make a difference in the world.

And divine guidance allows me to continue to do just that.