Many of us would like to have a fresh start.  All of us have made mistakes and bad decisions throughout our lives that have hindered us from truly being happy.  We have experienced setback after setback but sometimes we allow these mistakes, these setbacks and failures to enslave us to the point that we never enjoy our lives because we are stuck in the past.  The good news is we are about to usher in 2018 – a brand new year full of new opportunities, experiences and challenges.  Grab a hold of the new year; forget about what’s happened before.  It’s over.  The book’s closed on it. You are starting a new chapter in your life. Say goodbye to the old and hello to the new.  Yesterday is past.  Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift and that is why it is called the present.  Enter 2018 with a courageous spirit and believe that you can do whatever you set your mind to do.

Many people make resolutions that they never keep.  Sound familiar? Why?  Because resolutions reflect the desire people have to make a change.  People are actually hoping for a new start, a new beginning and new possibilities for their lives.  Life is a journey and you should enjoy every day that is given to you. So far you have survived 100% of your worst days.  You are doing great and should be proud of yourself.  You have much to be thankful for. You have people who truly love you.  The most important people in your life love you.  No matter how bad you are feeling, remember that you are not alone.  Be thankful that you are still alive and well.  Many people would have wished to be in your shoes, but they are not.  No matter how unhappy, sick, tired or sad you are, remember you have one of the most precious gifts – your unique life!  Instead of worrying about everything you should start to notice and enjoy the present moment.  Be happy that you are breathing and you are alive. You are unique and you need to remind yourself of all the love you have in your life.

Life is about enjoying your journey. We tend to forget that  happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have. It’s better to be thankful for what we have than to complain about what we don’t have.  Many of us forget about the role we play in the lives of others.  There is someone who has been inspired by your life. They have seen you struggle and survive.  They have seen life knock you down and watched how you have bounced back.  Someone is happy just because you exist.   When you realize how happy you are making someone else, it should make you happy. You deserve to be happy.  You deserve to have your dreams come true.

As we celebrate the New Year, I want to thank each of you for allowing me to speak into your life.  Your prayers, encouragement and love has enabled me to hold steady on my journey.  I believe that many good things await us as we welcome 2018.  I wish each of you happiness, success and a healthy long life.  2018 is a new beginning. 2018 is a fresh new start.  Live every minute with grace, happiness and gratitude.   Happy New Year to my family and friends!

This is the most wonderful and yet difficult time of the year.   We are celebrating new births, anniversaries, family, friendships while others are grieving the loss of a loved one, loss of a job, a home and are living in the midst of depression.   If you are at a good place in life and experiencing joy and happiness today, you are truly blessed and have much to be grateful for.   If you are trying to survive each day or if you are fighting to cope with loss of any kind or you can’t raise your head above water, I have nothing but compassion for your pain and you have my prayers.   So, as you are busy buying gifts for your family and friends, don’t forget to remember those going through a difficult time in their lives.

Christmas is not so much about opening presents as it is opening our hearts.  An open heart will propel you to think of others. An open heart will cause you to be kind.  A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.  An open heart will allow you to be patient in every circumstance and stop you from judging others based on their outward appearance.  An open heart will force you to go out of your way to help another person.  After all, we don’t remember days – we remember moments.  We will remember the moment someone noticed that you had a need and they did something about it.  The best Christmas gifts are not material things but gifts of listening, of showing kindness, of remembering, of visiting, of forgiving and giving of your time.  A man’s true wealth is the good he does in this world.  You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving.  The happiest people are not those getting more, but those who give more.

As we give presents at Christmas, we need to recognize that sharing our time and ourselves is such an important part of giving.  Money can be given but people need you to love them.  So spread your love everywhere you go. Mother Teresa said “it’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.”  Give this Christmas without a thought of getting something in return.  Enjoy the happiness you will see on the faces of people who receive a gift from you.  This is the true Christmas spirit.  Christmas is a time for forgetting about self and finding time for others.  When you give of yourself, that’s when you will feel the true spirit of Christmas.  Don’t wait for other people to be loving, giving, compassionate, grateful, forgiving, generous, or friendly – you lead the way.   This Christmas be the best giver you can be and make this world a better place than it was before.  May you receive all the love and happiness you deserve and may your future be filled with joy, peace and love.

Merry Christmas

Do you want to be happy?  Let go of what’s gone and be grateful for what remains. Look forward to what lies ahead.  Many people live in the past and ignore the important people, places and things that are right in front of them.  It’s like they are walking forward but their head is looking backward.  Their focus is all wrong.  They are looking in the past and are not open to new experiences and opportunities. To be happy learn to focus on where you are going instead of where you have been. Focus on what you have and not what you don’t have.  Focus on what’s right in the world instead of what’s wrong. Remember, whatever you focus upon, increases. When you focus on the things you need, you’ll find those needs increasing.  If you concentrate your thoughts on what you don’t have, you will soon be concentrating on other things that you had forgotten you don’t have and feel worse.  If you set your mind on loss, you are more likely to lose but a grateful attitude brings happiness and abundance into a person’s life.

The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old but building the new.  Stay focused on your goals, your peace and your happiness.  Don’t waste your time on anything that doesn’t contribute to your growth. Stop worrying about what you have to lose and start focusing on what you have to gain. Be happy with the little you have.  There are some people with nothing who still manage to smile.  Every second you spend thinking about what you don’t have in your life is keeping you from focusing on what you do have.  Every hour you spend thinking about the past is an hour stolen from seeing the possibilities that your future does hold.  So, ask yourself, “do I want more of THAT” before you give it any of your attention.

You can’t reach for anything new if your hands are still full of yesterday’s junk.   Do not let your past rob you of your future.  Each new day is a chance to make a new beginning.  Whatever you focus on only grows stronger. If you want to change anything, focus on what needs to be done to change things for the better.  Don’t focus on what is not working in your life.  When you focus on problems you will have more problems.  When you focus on possibilities you will have more opportunities.  Don’t think about what could happen in a month or in a year.  Just focus on the 24 hours in front of you, and do what you can to get where you want to be.  Even if the path is a little blurry, keep walking until your goal is visible once again.  Just never quit and never stop walking.  Focus all of your energy not on fighting the old but on building the new.  Results happen over time not overnight.  Work hard, stay consistent and be patient.   Stay focused on what lies ahead and not on what lies behind.

Have you ever had an experience where things didn’t turn out as you had expected?  We want to make things work as per our plans but life is not always the way you expected it to be.  No one knows what is going to happen in the future.  We wish for only good to happen but we all know that isn’t reality and it will take patience to get us through everything that does and doesn’t happen according to our plans.  As virtues go, patience is a quiet one.  It’s often displayed behind closed doors, not on a public stage. In public, it’s the impatient ones who grab all of our attention: drivers honking in traffic, grumbling customers in slow-moving lines.  Having patience means being able to wait calmly in the face of frustration or adversity. So, anywhere there is frustration or adversity, and that is nearly everywhere, we have the opportunity to practice patience. Patience isn’t always easy and that’s why it must be practiced.

Sometimes, no matter how much you want things to happen, all you can do is be patient and wait.  Good things come to those who wait. It might take a year, it might take a day but what’s meant to be will always find its way into your life.  Sometimes God will give you exactly what you wanted just to show you it’s not at all what you need.  Sometimes you just have to stop worrying and doubting.  Have faith that things will work out maybe not how you planned but how they were meant to be. You can’t have a better tomorrow if you are still thinking about yesterday.  Life is not about living in the future or in the past.  Life is about accepting the present moment. Sometimes what we want doesn’t happen when or how we want it to but that doesn’t mean the answer is ‘no’.  It just means ‘not right now’.  Be patient because the best things happen unexpectedly. Some things take time.  Stay patient and stay positive, things will get better.

Patience is a form of wisdom.  It demonstrates that you understand the fact that sometimes things must unfold in their own time.  You will get there when you are meant to get there and not one moment sooner so be patient and wait.  When what you want doesn’t happen, learn to want what does happen.  Just because the past didn’t turn out like you wanted it to doesn’t mean your future can’t be better than you imagined.  You know great things are coming when everything seems to be going wrong.  Great faith is the product of great fights.  Great testimonies are the outcome of great tests.  Great triumphs can only come out of great trials.  The secret to being patient is focusing on the hope and not the doubt.  The longer you wait for something the more you appreciate it when you get it.  Everything worth having is definitely worth waiting for.

Two things define you – your patience when you have nothing and your attitude when you have everything.  Patience is an important tool in overcoming frustration.  Patience allows us to suspend judgment long enough to make informed decisions, thus paving the path to a happy and peaceful life.  Practicing patience in everyday situations—like with our punctuality, our driving or just standing in line at the grocery store will not only make life more pleasant in the present, but might also help pave the way for a more satisfying and successful future.  Anger and stress are two things that are enough to ruin a person’s health and patience is the antidote to both these illnesses.  Being patient, you can overcome any challenging situation in a better way.  Remember, patience is more than having the ability to wait.  Patience is having a good attitude while you wait.  Purpose to practice patience daily especially during this time of the year. Patience – use it before you ‘lose’ it!