Fresh Start

  Like a fresh snow, a new year is one that has no tracks made in it. We all have the chance to make the pattern we choose on a fresh canvas. 

  As a friend pointed out in an on-line discussion, every day starts the same way. This was a good piece of advice, as it means we don't have to wait for a new year to turn over to get our resolutions made. We can start each new day with a fresh plan and a fresh start. 

  This approach gives us 365 chances to start fresh and try to get back on track if we feel that we have failed in meeting our goals. We only really have failed in our goals is if we fail to try again, if we give up. If you vow to start again, to give it another try, you haven't failed, you have only had a setback or have found another way that didn't work.

  If you have made resolutions in the past and didn't make it out of January with them intact, don't give up hope, just decide to try again on a fresh day. Make a daily resolution, instead of an annual one. Try to set smaller goals, don't make a plan for a whole year, make a plan for a month of a week. This keeps the goals attainable and gives more chances to start over and get back on track.

Try to find a support group for your goals, a group of like minded people who will be there to support you when you are feeling like quitting something, as you will be there for them when they are down. No two people have the same motivation on the same days and it seems to average out that you can push each other through low points.

We all have things that we would like to change in our lives and we all need a plan to get to our goals. The only place you can get to without a map is lost. And life goals are the same, you need a map to get to your goals.

So, for all of you who are planning your goals for the new year, put on your mittens, dust off the skis, take the clothes off the exercise bench, plan a budget or sharpen the pencils for a new course to take. 

  This is the first day of the New Year as well as the rest of your life. Make the most of it and get out there and make the tracks in the blank canvas that is the rest of your life and may your design be an inspiration to you .

Happy New Year to all of our readers.