A New Year - What That Means To Me

A new year is a fresh start, a beginning. A new year is the continuation of a dream, the next step in a journey. A new year is the end of old, no longer productive thought and action, a time to take stock and redirect our efforts.

I'm not one to make New Year's resolutions. If I want to lose weight or finish a project I've learned the hard way that a list scribbled on a scrap of paper doesn't get me far. Before long I misplace the list and life goes on as before in my normal half-organized, half-spontaneous way of living.

What works better for me is taking a moment to reflect and regroup. Finally in my fourth decade, I'm getting it right. My children are constant sources of joy and amazement. I cry tears of pride each time I witness their accomplishments - the lightning fast run into the end zone for the first touchdown of the game - The look on my son's face as he breaks a board with a flying sidekick - Notes picked out on the piano and finally the melody of a song from my child who's teaching herself to play - Discussing ambitions for college, possibly music school in Los Angeles and daydreaming of the summer afternoon when my oldest walks across the stage to receive his diploma - The sheer terror and joy of watching my baby scale a 30-foot rock wall at the climbing gym.

2007 became the year of personal accomplishment and growth. My career is on track and I'm working on my next book. My personal life is awesome thanks to the love of an incredible man. LifePrints, which started on a whim, has become a source of daily inspiration and joy. I've made some incredible new friends who share my ambitions toward writing and changing the world one person at a time.

Through the posts I've written, I've learned so much about the resilience of the human spirit and the goodness of the human heart. Each day, I'm more convinced that we will solve the problems facing our world. We are capable. If each of us step up, speak up, and act up...things will change for the better.

I hope to have more this year of what I had last. I hope for you to find a way to your dreams. I hope for the world that suffering ends and true living, instead of just surviving, begins across our planet.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL