Thoughts About A New Year

I have never really enjoyed New Year's Eve.   Wait, maybe

that is not entirely true.  I can remember some very fun parties

but there always seems to be so much pressure for the

evening to be perfect.  When I try too hard, things just seem

to get more complicated.  I much prefer the easy flow of things.

Oh and resolutions too.  Don't like that pressure either.

I think that if I set a resolution for myself there is always

a little voice inside my head that discourages me from

following through.  Does that happen to you as well?

Yet somehow there is the need to mark the occasion in some 

special way and to great the new days ahead with enthusiasm.

So here are my personal rules for New Year's Eve ~

Keep it simple, keep it fun, keep it safe and keep it early!

David and I think we have had a great time if we party

a bit and are in our jammies by 10pm.  I am sure that our

friends who knew us way back when might be shocked at

this revelation, but it's true.  We can no longer party with

the night owls and then soar with the eagles the next morning.

And we are okay with it.

Next ~ no resolutions that I know I can never keep.

One year David and I made the resolution to learn to play

new musical instruments.  He was going to get a clarinet and

I was going to buy a violin.  A whole year went by and 

there was absolutely no progress what so ever on fulfilling 

that plan.  Several years later we still laugh about it and

have threatened to put it on the bucket list again ;-)

Silly us.

I prefer to set goals.  In my mind a resolution is daunting, but

a goal has some chance of survival.  I won't beat myself up if

I don't meat a goal.  After all if I don't make one step towards

the achievement of the goal I can always push back the finish 

line.  Spoken like a true procrastinator.  Maybe I should run

 for Congress.  I think like a politician don't you agree?

So here is what I do.  I have to use a different kind of psychology when 

talking to myself.  A goal seems stern.  It's like a job interview when one is

asked "where do you see yourself in five years"?  If I were to be truly 

honest I would say that I would see myself in a cute beach front cottage

walking on the beach each day and being perfectly content.  Of course I

would need a goal to make this beach cottage a reality.  That's where I

trick myself.  I change goal to dream.  I believe in dreams.  

In the past I have learned that if I have a dream and just keep moving 

forward to make that dream a reality it happens.  I hold the dream 

tightly in my heart and never doubt that it won't happen.  

This philosophy has worked for me many times and it can be applied

to anything.  The only rule is keep it simple.  Only one dream at a time

not a bucket list full of them.  Hang on to your dream.  Don't let anyone

convince you that it won't materialize.  Make that journey into fulfilling

your dream a happy one.  Pat yourself on the back each time you get one

step closer.  Those are my thoughts for the new year ahead.

 I just need to pick a dream for 2014.  I could dream of being a cellist.

I never was all that keen on learning the violin, but the cello ~ ah maybe.

Well, I have a few more days yet to pick the dream I want to fulfill.

I will keep you posted.

In the meantime ~ Bentley (being the sweet uncomplicated darling he

is) has a dream.  His dream is to live each day in the loving comfort

of his home and family.  He's lucky because he lives his dream

every day.

Seasonal Sundays

Big Texas Hugs,

Susan and Bentley