“If it is meant to serve you, and it doesn’t, replace it.  Daily things like your bag, your water bottle, your socks.  Find ones you actually like using.”  Alissa Gulin, Laurel, Md

“We tend to forget that baby steps still move us forward.”  Becki Moss, Sarasota, Fl

“Good conversations have lots of doorknobs.”  Samantha Good, Portland, Or

“Stop trying to calm the storm.  Calm yourself, the storm will pass.”  Lyn Banghard, Easton, Md.

“Even in the hardest of times, you have the ability to whistle in the dark.”  Kate Chimenti, Los Gatos, Ca

“Put away your phone when there is a human being in front of you.”  Emily Herrick, Vashon, Wa

“Write what is bothering you down on a piece of paper; put it in a little box.  A year later, read what’s in there and see if you don’t start laughing.”  Diane Huebner, Merced, Ca

“Best advice for decluttering:  If you didn’t own it, would you buy it again?”  Margaret Roberts, Kodiak, Alaska

The world always seems to be full of advice when one year ends and another year begins.  A reminder to us all that this is a good time to take stock of our lives, review the paths we are walking down, think about the little things we do during each day and the little things we don’t do each day.  One thing I always like to do every year-end is clean my office.  I take all my files out of their hiding place and go through them and fill my recycle bin until it flows over, empty it into a large bag, and refill again and again.  It is refreshing.  It is like taking weight off my body, the files I physically remove from my office also cleanses my mind and allows fresh, new, innovative, creative thoughts to enter.

What I am really doing, physically and mentally, is preparing for a new start.  There is a certain excitement in life that takes place at the starting line.  You are standing at a line, dead even with all of your competitors, be it life or business.  You look about and you realize that you are as good as everyone around you, maybe better.  When the bell rings, you have as good a chance as anyone to cross the finish line first–or at least win a medal of some sort. I have always loved starting lines.  When I was running 10K’s all over the city streets with my kids, I loved to start as close to the front of the pack as possible.  I would imagine all sorts of scenarios that would have me leading this group through every mile and eventually busting through that tape at the finish line.  That sort of excitement and those sorts of dreams can only take place at the starting line.  They may quickly disappear, a few runners may pass you rather quickly, and maybe a few more after the first fifty yards of the race, but for those few exhilarating moments in time, you were equal with everyone in the race and that excitement inspires you and gives you fuel to reach the finish line triumphantly.

Even if you do not win the race or win every proposal, you are in the arena, doing your best, searching for ways to get better, thinking about possibly changing your running shoes, running at a different pace, maybe entering a different race next time, perhaps finding a different crowd to compete with.  You can only have these life changing thoughts if you clear the deck at year’s end, declare the new year as a whole new beginning, imagine yourself at the starting line with those that are running the same race as you, scheming and dreaming about how to lead the pack.

So, let us all relax, let the year end, take some time to download some heavy files and clear our cluttered path and think about the success we will find in the new year that is sitting right in front of us, at the starting line.

Happy New Year to everyone.

“Though no one can go back and make a brand new start; anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.”  Carl Bard

WBEDC