Friday, December 30

Looking Forward

     How is everyone? 
The New Year is about to start soon. The promise of new beginnings inspires most hearts and gives hope to our souls. 
    I got a jump on year 2012. Exercising and resting regularly this week was one way of getting myself revved up for a good and grateful year. There are several things on my checklist of goals for this
upcoming year. Key, is not overdoing it. I want to remember to take it easy and be reasonable regarding my ambitions.
     I want to accomplish more in Two Thousand and Twelve. One goal is meeting regularly with my editor. It's one way of investing in me. Writing for this inn and the one that preceded it, in a private community, has been a revelation. For two years and four months, I've dedicated 2-3 hours a day, to writing. 
     Before becoming an innkeeper, the field I worked in didn't require the type of writing I do here. My training is in another profession. The writing I do for work is mostly outlines. For decades my bent has been research, languages, teaching, lecturing, counseling, training others----all verbal in nature. 
     It's a different animal altogether, to write. Sometimes it's agonizing, but a struggle of the good sort, like when I worked out for wrestling or cross-country running, when a student of yesteryear. 
    I trust I'm getting better at putting keystroke to keypad. Let me know if I am, or if I'm not. 
     It's fun sharing gratitudes with the many of you who scoot into this inn.  If a herd of stampeding turtles run over me and I become roadkill, many of the talks I've given over the decades would be gone, mere fragmentary memories of those I'm taught, helped or trained. 
     On the other hand, in this cozy inn of nine months I've scribed 246 entries. They encapsulate reflections on various issues. What's shared here can be revisited whenever someone cares to. There's greater permanence to the written word.
     My desire has been, as innkeeper, to remind us that we are valuable, precious even.  The posts in this Attitude of Gratitude Inn declare----I hope---that there are ways that let us out of the despairing tunnels of life. We can emerge from them experiencing a clarity that allows us to live filled with love, zest, joy, serenity and hope.
    There are healthy alternatives that help us overcome the dramas of life, including the enervating ones that can dwell within us (also known as depression, trauma and anxiety). When guided by healthy principles, we can move towards dynamic, restorative living.  We also become more loving, first, towards our selves and then others---it's a pretty good deal.
     My experience as the innkeeper is consistent with what I believe about serving others: we get more that we ever give away. Thank you, for dropping by, for keeping me company. I love when you post your gratitudes. If you haven't, it's never too late to start doing what is right. 
    I wish you God's blessings, and an excellent and grateful New Year!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am grateful for a cup of coffee in the morning. The intense,complex aroma has always been something I look forward to each morning as I prepare for my day. Thanks to the innkeeper nudging me along, I can now look forward to writing my gratitudes as well.
I am grateful this year has been different for me in many ways. I have learned to slow down and focus in the moment on what I can do now to make my life a better one. Instead of listening to the overcrowded thoughts of my mind I can pick a few items I can do something about and use the creative talents God blessed me with to accomplish just a few of my ideas.
I am grateful for the many friends who have listened to me when I needed to let my inner voice be heard. I am grateful for them and for a God of amazing understanding who placed them in my life to share my recovery with.
I hope to visit the inn more frequently in the new year and put my voice to writing. It may save wear ansd tear on my cell phone and also the ears of many of my friends.
Mostly I am grateful for taking my spiritual relationship with God one step furthur. This year I have learned to ask God to be with me as I approach each day so I can do it his way instead of mine. The Our Father states "thy will be done" not my will be done.
Happy New Year everyone!

Pablo said...

Good hearing from you.

I'm in agreement with you, knowing our priorities is critical. Please, drop by when you can. It's great hearing from others and enjoying community.

I've learned, as hard as it is on my ego, that asking God for help does not mean seeking for specific results. That is asking God to perform my will. Like you, I find turning my will and life over to God means that I put the outcome of my prayers in His hands.

I don't make God my spiritual bellboy, as I've written elsewhere in this inn.

It takes practice cultivating my relationship with God, but it is worth it.

Thanks for dropping by, reading and commenting!

Quotes from the Posts

"I'm mindful that our thoughts affect the words we use, our words influence our actions, our actions shape our character and our character determines our destiny."

From "My Character Determines My Destiny." To read it, please click here.

"Progress not perfection, is better than no progress at all, especially when we're trying to rid ourselves from unwelcome dragons that dwell within the closets of our soul."

From, "Still Learning" which, within four days, became the most popular post
written. To read it, please click here.

"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its trouble, but it does empty today of its strength"
From the post: "Life Is Not a Correspondence Program." Click here to read it.

"Even though we cannot control our circumstances, we can control how we choose to respond to them."

From, "Handling Stress and Dealing With an Emotional Bully."Click here to read this post.

"Nope, being busy isn't exciting. Boring is good. Because boring is not boring; boring is being healthy, living a balanced life that has serenity"

From: "Do You Know What It Means If You Are Too Busy?" For more, please click here.

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