The New Year is always an exciting time for me.  It is a beginning, a fresh start or approach to life.  The beginning of the Holiday Season is usually hectic for me as well as my clients.  I also have a birthday squished in between the holidays.  So, for me it is a time to celebrate with my family and to also use the beginning of the year to prepare for the things I want to focus on in the new year.

The beginning of a new year, we often focus on our shortcomings to lose weight, improve our finances, or find more meaningful employment. There are people or events that may have been difficult for us during the previous year, and we can use this is time to focus on what we want our life to look like, and how do we go about making the necessary changes so that we can have a successful new year.

I have made a commitment  to clear the clutter in my home.  I have an excess of many things, and I want to live with only the things that are important and dear to me.  So, I have a box of donated clothes, dishes, books etc. that can be a blessing to someone else.

This is also the time to evaluate those that are in our lives.  We may have friends are family members who require a lot of commitment on our part to nurture the relationship, yet we don’t receive that same commitment from them.  This is the time to reflect on our relationships, and their value.  It is OK for us to place those who are not as committed to us on the back of the shelf.  It does not mean that we have to be disrespectful, or argumentative, but we don’t have to respond to others demands with the same urgency that they may request.

Let’s use this time to contemplate on the life we want to live in 2019.  May this year be peaceful and productive.