Focus on 2012

With a sick kid home from school the past two days, I've been able to surf the web and get my fill of new years goal setting thoughts, resolutions and new ideas.  I guess it is the perk of having to be home with a kid who has had a fever.  

I've given an enormous amount of thought to the energy that we put out and the energy that comes back to us.  I am a believer in this.  I could go into a long explanation that references my down and out divorce days and then the days where I began to see things with clarity and how that changed my world or I can skip the details and just repeat ...... I am a believer in the energy we put out and the energy that comes back to us.

So I am focusing on one word for 2012 - LUCKY 
and one symbol :

I chose the word "Lucky" because sometimes I can forget how wonderful my life really is.  I have many things that make me a lucky lady and I don't want to lose sight of the "Good Life" that I live.  I also know that when I pay attention to feeling lucky - more luck will come my way.  My new phrase to the World's Greatest Husband?  This is our lucky year.  I think he may be taking it in a different context but I will let him roll with it for now.

My symbol, the heart, is to always remind me to bring love to my day, my work, and my family throughout 2012. My heart is big but like most woman I have things to learn, strengthen and protect.  

So much more to say and do but I'll leave it to my "lucky heart" for now......

This was read at my high school senior night 23 years ago.  Words to live by, via Mrs. Papandrea:

THE STATION

By Robert J. Hastings

         TUCKED AWAY in our subconscious minds is an idyllic vision in which we see ourselves
on a long journey that spans an entire continent. We're traveling by train and, from the 
windows, we drink in the passing scenes of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at
crossings, of cattle grazing in distant pastures, of smoke pouring from power plants, of row
upon row upon row of cotton and corn and wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of city skylines and
village halls.

    But uppermost in our conscious minds is our final destination--for at a certain hour and on a
given day, our train will finally pull into the station with bells ringing, flags waving, and bands
playing. And once that day comes, so many wonderful dreams will come true. So restlessly, we
pace the aisles and count the miles, peering ahead, waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.

    "Yes, when we reach the station, that will be it!" we promise ourselves. "When we're 
eighteen. . . win that promotion. . . put the last kid through college. . . buy that 450SL 
Mercedes-Benz. . . have a nest egg for retirement!"

    From that day on we will all live happily ever after.

    Sooner or later, however, we must realize there is no station in this life, no one earthly
place to arrive at once and for all. The journey is the joy. The station is an illusion--it
constantly outdistances us. Yesterday's a memory, tomorrow's a dream. Yesterday belongs to a
history, tomorrow belongs to God. Yesterday's a fading sunset, tomorrow's a faint sunrise. Only
today is there light enough to love and live.

    So, gently close the door on yesterday and throw the key away. It isn't the burdens of today 
that drive men mad, but rather regret over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and
fear are twin thieves who would rob us of today.

    "Relish the moment" is a good motto, especially when coupled with Psalm 118:24, "This is
the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."

     So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, swim more rivers, climb more
mountains, kiss more babies, count more stars. Laugh more and cry less. Go barefoot oftener.
Eat more ice cream. Ride more merry-go-rounds. Watch more sunsets. Life must be lived as we
go along. The station will come soon enough.