Today, for many, is a day to reflect.

Have I accomplished all I set out to do this past year?  Did I keep those resolutions (most don’t), do all that I set out to do?

I’m very sentimental, by nature.  So, it’s definitely in my nature to reflect over the last year.

I’m also reflecting on THIS day, every year, because it is the day that, 14 years ago, my sweet baby sister went home to her heavenly father.

Scarlett was a bright light in our lives.  She never met a stranger, and if you met her, you loved her. FUCKING cancer took her from us when she was only 29!  (yes, I use a strong VULGAR word, for a strong vulgar disease).

I can’t reflect without thinking of her.

Would she be married?  Would she have kids?  Would she agree with decisions I’ve made in my life?  What would her home look like?  Where would she be working? Oh what I would give to have one of those soul searching conversations that only sisters can have.

Goodbye 2017!  I’ll admit you didn’t end the way I thought you would…but, then again, that’s usually the case.

Goodbye to a job I loved, and thought I was born to do! (Thankful for a God who knew otherwise, just wish I wasn’t so stubborn and would have just trusted.  HIS way is so much better than anything I could have dreamed).

Goodbye to the hardest fight I’ve ever been through as a mom.

Goodbye to club volleyball, a life we’ve been engulfed in for the past 8 years.  Sadly, that also means goodbye to people we’ve come to know and love but our circles are just too wide apart right now.

Goodbye to watching Allie play volleyball, as she played her very last season of collegiate volleyball this year.

Goodbye to friendships I thought would last, but for whatever reason didn’t.

Goodbye to caring so much of what I think others expect of me, when it doesn’t align with what my soul is telling me.

Goodbye to comparing my life to others…it’s my story, and right or wrong, I get to write the chapters!

Goodbye to one of the most fun summers I’ve had in a while.

Goodbye to the lingering health issue that FINALLY went away.

Hello wonderful, fresh,exciting NEW YEAR!

Hello to new opportunities…new friends, new jobs, new situations.

Hello to prioritizing the important things in life.

Hello to having the first of our “babies” graduate college and enter the “real world”.

Hello to reaching a goal that I have for myself.

Hello to helping more people become the best they can be, whatever that looks like.

Hello to healing hearts.

Hello to slowing down, listening to my soul and aligning with what feels right instead of what’s expected.

Hello to looking at my community and those around me and taking the time  to see where I fit and can serve.

 

Do you have any?  Do you set them? I’m not talking New Year’s Resolutions, because we all know  that’s a load  of crap and only sets us up to fail.

 

Do you write them down?  Do you share them with others?  Do you find others with similar goals and ask them to be your accountability partner?

 

What about your dreams?  Do you have them?  Are they realistic? Do you know that the ONLY thing that separates a dream from reality is a plan?  Find your dream, set your plan and realistic goals and you will turn that dream into reality!

 

As you make the leap into 2018, and leave 2017 behind, I pray that you will find peace, health, happiness and dreams that set your soul on fire!

HAPPY NEW YEAR FRIENDS!