New to Me

It’s a brand-new year. The page is blank. The expectations we have for ourselves are positive, bright, reachable, attainable and measurable. Most of us figure that next year will be better. It is a great sentiment and it all begins in our minds. A long time ago someone told me that when you think it, it will happen. If you think 2009 will be a great year, it will be.
But to be a better year you will have to do more then just think it. As Nike used to say, “Just Do It!” So many people want things to happen in their lives but they never take the steps to make it happen.
A good number of years ago, my dad purchased his first computer. On his own he went into the store to take a look. He is one of those shoppers that commission sales people love to come in their store. A young man walked up to him and asked if he could be of any assistance. Half hour later, dad walked out to the car with more computer then most people would ever need. But, he was happy.
Once home he called up the “kids” and a number of us went over and got him started. Hooked him onto the server, got him an email address and all the other things that go with getting started. He was thrilled until we left him alone with the computer. After one hundred and ninety hours of playing solitaire he was on the phone again. We taught him a few more things and left again. At that point, he called up Mohawk College and took an introductory course in computers. The oldest student at Mohawk that year. He made it happen.
For all of us, life is a hands on experience. Things don’t just happen because we just think about it. We are proactive. We have to take the cat by the tail . . . not literally. You know what I mean.
This time of year is no different. We can sit and hibernate over the winter sitting in front of the tv. OR you can make it happen. You can do it with your weight, which by the way is usually the number one resolution at new years. You can do it with healthy eating, you can do it with what you read, watch on tv or listen to on your ipod. You can do it in your spiritual health as well. The more positives we put in our lives the more we will get out of life.
So I encourage all of you to take that step of having a better year this year then last. While stuck inside due to the weather, start by memorizing this verse and making it your verse for 2009. Have a great year!!! I will.

“Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:12-14