A new year is upon us and as I reflect upon the year gone by and ponder the one ahead, I know whatever lays in store is truly up to me. It can be a happy year or hard year simply depending on my attitude. It really is that simple. No matter what hand you are dealt you can either look for the good or see the bad.
As I racked my brain for the proper word I could choose as a personal theme there were a lot to choose from that I could stand to improve on. I could be more patience, frugal, obedient, prayerful, punctual, loving, kind, gentle, hard working, disciplined and the list could go on. But the one word that kept coming back to me is
Gratitude.
"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.... It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow."
-Melodie Beattie
I hope this is the year that I can look beyond the spilled milk and see the bright shiny eyes of the little girl who tipped the cup over. That I can look at the unorganized, cluttered closet and rumpled beds and remember the boys who spent time in the morning briefly tidying up. That I can laugh at the dirt and know that one day it will be too clean because children are only children for a short time. I hope that I can enjoy the days off and make memories instead of dreading the return to the tasks at hand. That I can truly appreciate all I have been blessed with instead of fixating on the one thing that didn't work out. That I can see the the small steps forward instead of the miles I still have to run.
"The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings."
-Eric Hoffer
I truly have so much to be grateful for. This is my hope for 2008. Now it's all up to me to make it happen!
6 comments:
You are one of the most optimistic people I know, and your posts make me recognize blessings in my own life. Thank you!
p.s. I am feeling "grateful" that you are back to blogging. I missed you!
Hi Cheryl- happy new year and I love that we thought of the same new years word. It's a powerful word, I hope that I too don't let a negative attitude affect what an amazing year this is going to be. :) Good luck and I know it won't be too hard for you to be positive, it's your nature.
Love you choice, it was on my list as well. I agree with Marcie, you are one of the happiest/easy going people I know!
Glad you had a great vacation and managed to fit it all it. You are so great to document the details and photos make it so much funner. You both have great families!
I like your idea of picking one word and having that be your focus for the year. I might do the same. Gratitude is a great one. It seems that when you are grateful, everything else seems to fall into place. I'm excited to hear how it goes throughout the year.
I'm teary eyed. I have to print out these quotes. I'm so worried how fast this time is really going to fly by. I feel like I'm at such a prime right now even though I feel like I'm accomplishing nothing, knowing this is the time to accomplish so much with my little ones. I love your focus word. Great choice. Thanks for the motivation and inspiration.
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