2009 ~ The Year to Come

Never thought I would get so excited about a new year.  Never before have I felt so strongly about the fresh start and everything people talk about when the calendar page flips.  Mostly my life just slides from one year to the next without much fanfare.  

This year it is different.  

I thought about writing one of those "Year In Review" posts. 

 Well, I only thought about that for about 3 seconds.  Don't really want to go there.  

However, as much as I don't feel the necessity to go back over all the details of the last year, I can't really say that I want to forget them either.  In some ways, this has been the most important, most pivotal year of my life.   I have definitely been changed, and not just physically.  When I look ahead to the new year I want to put those changes into practice and learn from them.

I have never been big on resolutions.  

Why make promises you can't or won't keep?  

This time though my resolutions are of quite a different nature and the urge to keep them is strong.  

I want to do the following things this next year:

• I want to be appreciative.  I want to show my appreciation to God and to people around me for the blessings in my life.  Just today I looked up at the gray, cloud speckled  sky with a bit of sun peeking through and I thanked God for such a beautiful sight.  I thanked Him for the cold shot of fresh air hitting my face and the way the sun seemed to sneak in with that air as I breathed.  I never want to lose this new appreciation for even the simple things. 
• I want to be positive.  I know that with the type of cancer I had that there is a chance of recurrence, but I do not want to live my life with a cloud of cancer hanging over my head.  I would rather live my life covered with a cloud full of all the blessings that God gave me over the past year.  A cloud so full that it could burst open any minute and rain those blessings over me any time I even start to think negative.  
• I want to be a blessing.  Lets face it.  I have been blessed this past year in every way you can imagine and  it is about time that I start spreading those blessings around.   I need to do this because without returning the favors they stop with me.  
• I want to grow.  There is a reason God chose to extend my life and to keep living without growing seems pointless.   I want to learn more about God and develop an even  closer relationship with Him.
  

I guess that is what I am aiming for personally in this next year.  Physically, I really don't want a repeat (a "do over" might be nice, but not a repeat) of next year,  but come what may, I know that my God can handle it. 

Have a Blessed New Year.  Take stock of what your life really is.  Change what you can for the better , and allow God to manage the rest.