12/18/2006 - AROUND THE CORNER...

It's almost 2am and I should probably get to sleep. It has been a good weekend overall. Al has been suffering with a painful sprain in his lower back since pulling it at work on Thursday - so we have been taking it easy and hoping it will heal up soon.

We are about to head into the last week before Christmas and it will be a short week at work. I'm excited about taking some time off, especially since work hasn't been exactly challenging as of late. At least the pay is good and I get along with the people.

I'm already looking ahead into 2007 and trying to imagine what changes the new year will bring. We don't know what is waiting around the corner at any point in our lives - but we can initiate change, and I hope to be an active agent in as much of that as possible moving forward. That's not to say that I have lived my life in the past as a passive bystander - far from it. But so often I have felt like a victim of circumstance, or an ineffectual contributor. In 2007 (no! this is not a resolution!) I want to be even MORE intentional about the path my life takes. I want to plan more of my "journey" and shape it in a way that I feel I'm getting the most out of my life - and that my life is getting the best from me.

I've already started the wheels in motion with my family, signaling changes that are to come in the future. They all know I want to move to Australia someday - but so far that has just been a dream. I guess an easier way to say it is that I want to start focusing on making my dreams come true.

I've spent a good part of my 44 years trying to please others and make them as comfortable as possible in life, sometimes succeeding but often failing miserably. It took me a long time to realize that the inability of others to find contentment wasn't really MY failure, nor was it ever really my responsibility to make others happy, to make them comfortable or to make sure they were fulfilled, and certainly not at my own expense.

So I move forward with a slightly different perspective now, and yes it continues to change and alter as I continue to learn and grow. I am blessed to have a partner now who is skilled at helping me find focus (he'll laugh at that - but it's true!) and who believe in me enough to nudge me forward when I'm having an off day, or week or what-have-you!

I'll admit - I have no certainty about what lies around the corner, but I do know - it's a part of my life - and what I call "the Adventure". So bring it on!

WOOF ya later!
~ bbw