Out in the big wide world life happened in 2016; great ideas were born, some failed; new governments elected; races won; champions made, some humbled; wars, loss, and hate continued; heroes emerged; and mother nature made her presence known. In my little world life happened too; ideas were born, some failed; my son got engaged; we sold our house and moved to another country; our friend died in an unfortunate accident; our neighbors son became a champion; and mother nature made her presence known. It was quite a year. I bet yours was too.
Time to go forward now. What do I hope for in 2017? What do you hope for? Why should you care? I’ll share some of my dreams hoping to inspire you because when you care, and dream, and reach out, you make your immediate world a better place. If your world is better that ripples out to the big wide world in ways you can’t imagine bringing hope and joy. So let’s jump into 2017!
In the fall of 2016 I joined a book club and I’ve gotten back to reading. I’m really enjoying it. I’ve read books both in and out of the club now and I’ve set a goal to read 26 books for the year 2017. That’s about one every two weeks which I’m thinking is doable but we will find out in due course!! My best recommendation from what I’ve read recently, if you are a fiction reader, is A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Brackman. I loved, loved, loved it! No really, it’s a great book. For non-fiction readers The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur's Vision of the Future by Steve Case was a fascinating look at where we are going with Internet in our daily lives and how he sees it redefining the way we do things.
I created a workshop called Cultivating Inner Peace that I would like to develop and refine even more. Reviews for the live workshop so far have been good. I have also found a way to bring it online and creating the online version will be my main project at the beginning of the year. If you are interested in getting in on the action you can sign up here and I’ll send you a notice when it’s ready.
While I had the Veteran community in mind when I created the workshop it is something that anyone can use. For me it has been a great reminder of why living from a place of peace is so important and working on the project has given me a renewed vision and taken me to a place of deeper connection with my Divine Self. I’ll share that story some other time though.
I’ve taken up golf and whoa, that’s been quite the ride! That story is still unfolding and has a lot to do with cultivating inner peace no matter the shot I just made; like the one that plopped off the tee or the one that became another lost ball to the water gods. My goal is just to get comfortable with the whole game and remembering it really is just a game. Ok, so yes, I’d like to get my average score below ninety at the same time. Too much to ask?
And with the advent of digital pictures there are few photo albums around any longer. I’ve created three in recent years and they have been wonderful to share with family and friends. My goal in 2017 is to create one for the last 6 years combined. I think that’s more doable than one for each event or place that we have lived. I know how time consuming the process is but if I can set aside a block of time once a week then I believe I will succeed.
I was inspired by a lady I met who has 3 of her own children plus her sister’s three children for one year. Both she and her husband work full time. I see her in the gym fairly regularly and she’s also doing her master’s degree. “How do you find the time?” I asked one day. “It’s just a matter of discipline,” she replied. Yup, I should know that.
It is with hope and anticipation that I look forward to 2017. But if you are like my friend who calls her 2016 “disastrous” my hope for you is that you will keep showing up and keep moving, one step at a time. Perhaps the best thing to do is pretend that it is already the end of 2017 and as you look back you remember the three things that made the year amazing for you. Now you have your year in forward and can see what the next step will be.
Peace, love, and best wishes to you in 2017.