Is it Resolution Time, Yet?

It's easy this time of year to get caught up in the excitement of the holiday season, twinkly lights and all, but few really think about the new year until after the Christmas hubbub settles down.  That's where those resolutions start sprouting, promising to be better at fill-in-the-blank.  For me, I find my thoughts most days drifting to the new year and how I can achieve my lifelong dreams, along with those day-to-day struggles we all seem to have.  Big and small, resolutions are a way to refocus our attention on things that really matter.  

I have heard a few interesting quotes lately, both coincidentally by Mark Twain, that seem particularly fitting to my mindset these days.  The first because I find myself worrying about the outcome of decisions that I am weighing.




It is so easy to think that we can control the outcome of situations, simply by thinking through every possible scenario.  But the truth is, sometimes you just have to take the leap and figure it out on the way down.

I have had far too many signs over the past few weeks for it to be a coincidence.  The Universe is giving me a not-so-gentle push to help me make that leap.  


In the new year, I plan to launch something that I have been working on for a while.  I am really excited about it and I hope it is received with the same amount of love that I have poured into it these past few months.

What are some other things that I dream about for my future?  

I would love to own a bed and breakfast one day...


I would love to be a full-time freelance writer, writing only about things that I am excited and passionate about...


I would love to travel to developing countries to help in any way that I can, keeping perspective about just how good I actually have it back home, and writing about my experiences to inform others about troubled areas of the world...


I would love to get back to a place of always putting others first, because I have drifted from that the past few years...


I would love to learn how to sew.  Like, really sew...


I would love to write a children's book, illustrated by the one and only, Judy Zhu... (seriously, how talented is she?!)


I would love to actually finish writing a novel, for I have only started them...


I would love to learn to incorporate meditation into my daily routine... if I could do it in the mountains, that would be a bonus!


I would love to take an Ayurveda course... because my curiosity has been piqued.


I would love to learn to speak a new language...


Wow, I could go on and on...  These are all on my dreams/to do list, as some are much easier to tackle than others.  I have a feeling I will always keep reaching, for those pie-in-the-sky dreams, for change and growth, to create my own story.

What will you reach for in 2015?  Lots of stretching and growing (and fear-shedding) ahead for me!