Final Day of Review

It's judgment day – 2014.  I'm looking over my wins and losses for the year in order to assess what areas of my life can be improved upon.  Overall, this has been a great year in the learning department.  I haven't fully mastered the art of letting go.  The final exam takes place on January 4th when we say farewell to our youngest son.  The flight plan for his future has been filed and he's ready for takeoff.  I'm thankful for the opportunity I was given to raise our children.

Perhaps my biggest area of concern going into the New Year is that I stay on course and avoid slipping into past negative behaviors.  Life really is a continuing education course you never  graduate from until you die.  It's not about setting goals on January 1 and breaking them three weeks later.  It's about doing your best day in and day out.  It's about being flexible and making adjustments when life throws you a curve ball.  It's about staying in the game no matter how challenging it may be.

My greatest hope for the New Year and beyond is that I don't squander opportunities.  I plan to continue making adjustments in my areas of weakness while fine tuning my personal strengths.  Annual reviews are important for those wanting to maximize the blessings they've been given.  Be careful.  Don't be too hard on yourself.  If you were perfect, your name would be Jesus and I'd be writing stories about you instead of him.  But you're not perfect and neither am I.  So let's keep moving forward together and let's keep learning from our past trials and our experiences together.

The last part of my annual review is in the gratitude department.  I give this part of my life an A+.  I don't think a day has gone by where I haven't found at least three things or people I'm thankful for.  I'm thankful for every trial I've faced this last year and all previous years.  They have been lessons.  I'm thankful for my awesome family, extended family and friends.  And I'm thankful for those who choose to read these stories.  At least one of you out there in the blog world has read every story since the beginning over 1,900 days ago.  It's nice to know others care, especially when a shark is spotted in the water.  Yes, I'm learning not freak out when danger lurks.  Thank you.  I'll see you next year.