2015

Happy 2015!!

It seems the last few years have brought on so many changes that all I would really like is to have one year that doesn't, for a change!

I am really glad to see 2014 go, we had ups and downs this last year and I guess my major personal thing was spending so much time in uncertainty. I think it has made me remember more than ever that you can't take anything in your life for granted. Everything can change in a blink of an eye. 10 seconds.....the time it takes for the brain to register what it has just been told. I just keep holding on to promises from God that He will never leave me, He will take care of me and He will never give me anything I can't handle.

I didn't make any resolutions, I set goals. I almost always do. I guess I'm not ready to share those publicly yet but I do have something to share. The way God started off my day got me to really thinking about something and analyzing me, myself and I.

I was reading a passage in Matthew this morning, Matthew 21:28-32. This is a parable about a father telling one of his sons to go work in the vineyard. The son says no, he won't, but then later does it.  The father told the other son to go work in the vineyard and he said he would but he didn't.

Anyone who spends much time around me knows I very seldom tell someone no. I am very willing to drop whatever I am doing to go do whatever is asked of my by somebody else. I realized this morning though that I am at fault of God telling me to do things and I think, "I will do that", then time passes and I don't get it done and I think it is no big deal. Case in point, I have several friends that have various illnesses; some cancer, some failing organs, some that their hearts are hurting. I hear God tell me, "You should call them", "you should text them", "you should send them a card", and I think, yeah, I will get that done, and then I don't. Notice I am being nice to myself. Not sure God is saying "you should" but I guess that soothes my conscious a bit that he isn't just saying, YOU call them, YOU text them, you get the picture.

Anyway, I am at work today and even though it is a good day, I have had a hairy situation to try to deal with this morning. It involved my clients who used to be clients of one of my counterparts in Chicago and a mixed up mess in a program we used. I drew everything out and realized what I needed to do to fix it, and did what I could but it is going to take several steps, including me calling my clients and my friend calling hers. What a first day of the year!

I had just hung up the phone and sent off an email saying I had it figured out when my phone beeps. When I saw who the message was from I curiously opened it, and there was an attachment that she had sent that was very personal to me, something we have in common. I read through it, watched the videos with it and laughed, what a treat compared to what I had been dealing with.

The thing is, it just took her a minute, and she may have even sent it to multiple people, but it made my day. Just knowing someone saw this and thought of me. Sometimes we get so tangled up in trying to save the world that it just takes you off guard that someone took the time.

My assistant is really good about this, in fact, she debates about if she should hold off on stuff, but it seems to just be part of her that this is what you are supposed to do. I seriously think I used to be that way, I just lost it somewhere in the middle of being busy. I don't think it was a good thing to lose.

So, that is my new goal for this year, to be better about taking a second to tell someone that I am thinking of them, to try to brighten their day. I often wonder if anyone really thinks their life is better because I exist (yes, of course I've watched It's A Wonderful Life recently). This little epiphany just popped up that you have to seriously be IN their lives to start with, for them to even think about it.

I get so caught up in taking care of people who are basically strangers, and don't get me wrong, that's not going to change, I love what I do and I love helping people; but, it has dawned on me that maybe I spend more thought and time on total strangers than I do my own friends and family.

Just my deep thought for the lunch hour, I told my friend who sent me the message that I was thinking way to hard for Friday. Maybe I am thinking too hard about this too.

So, it's 5 til one, time to get back at it. If you set goals for yourself in 2015, hope they are starting out well. And if you didn't, don't decide you have blown it, everyone says each day is a new day, but the fact is, each minute is a new minute, you don't have to wait until you wake up to have a do over.

M