Be Inspired!

As the clock ticks off the last few minutes of 2009, many of us, including myself, are probably trying to make sure 2010 is even better than its predecessor. 2009 was a great year in many ways, but very frustrating in others. In retrospect, maybe every year is like that, it all just depends on where you are perched at the end of it.

I have decided to ring in the New Year with a few simple comforts while I put in pen my resolutions. One comfort I wanted to wake up to in the morning was knowing my Christmas tree was already taken down, the ornaments stored away for another eleven months. This is the first year I have taken it down so early, but I decided to be a little superstitious, since it is said that by having one's tree up when the New Year arrives, you are bringing the past year into the new year which is said to bring bad luck. So here it goes! Keeping my fingers crossed that I'm ushering in all the good luck the universe can handle to throw my direction.

As I was taking the tree down, a Golden Girls marathon was playing in the background, and I caught a quote that I thought went very well with a resolution I had been pondering. As Miles is dancing with Rose, he whispers in her ear, "Life's like a ballroom. If you hear something you like, don't analyze it, just dance to it." A perfect metaphor (even though Rose didn't know what a metaphor was, of course) for someone (me) who gets in my own way too many times.

Resolution #1 - Get out of my own way!

#2 - Eat more vegetables (and since this is one of my resolutions for 2010, I'm going to make Ina Garten's Brownie Pudding - after all, it will still be 2009 when I eat it, right?)

I think the one thing I need to make sure I do every year, as I'm wishing away - hoping I achieve more, more, more, is to reflect on all the blessings in my life - those moments, memories, and times where I felt loved, cozy and comfortable, and to make sure I am joyful in the reflection.

Happy New Year! May yours be full of many, many wonderful memories!