Happy New Year!  While elsewhere people are preparing for parties, getting ready to watch the ball drop, I am taking a few moments to regroup and catch my breath.  2019 has been exceptionally busy for me; between work commitments, spending time with loved ones, and even squeezing in a vacation, the year has been very full and passed too quickly!

While today is a good day for reflection, the final day of the year is also a time to look forward.  Many of us make resolutions for the new year, to which unfortunately  we commit only half-heartedly , or that will soon loose our interest.  To me, the concept is still sound-we resolve to be better versions of ourselves, in whatever form we would like to improve.  Often, the motivation to change, to improve, is more important than the end result.  In other words it’s okay to try, and fail; it’s better than not trying at all, or loosing faith in our own potential.

There are a few things I would like to happen this year-I want to meet my Goodreads goals; I want to publish a new story that I’ve had on the back burner for a while; I want to take a vacation somewhere exotic this year, or at least somewhere I’ve never been before; and I want to achieve balance between my personal, day job, and writing lives.  Will I succeed?  I don’t know yet; but I’m going to give it my best shot.

Today is a good day to think about goals-about the people we would like to be this year.  I hope for the most of us, it is a chance to become, as Bill Murray’s character stated in the classic movie, Scrooged–“the people we have always wanted to be.”

Happy New Year everyone! I hope yours is a great one!