Awesome photo by Stephen Edelman

It’s that month where we think about resolutions and goals. Some people like to set them so they stay focused. It helps them feel like they’ve programmed an internal GPS to get them to their destination. Some people pride themselves on not setting goals or making resolutions for one reason or another. After all, statistics do show that only about 20% of people stay with those goals.

Most of my life I’ve been an avid goal setter. I’d divide my life into 7 categories Jack Canfield-style and make steps I knew were achievable, but that would stretch me out of my comfort zone. I’d spend time on typing out a document, transposing it to an index card, and carrying it around with me in my daytimer like a good friend, regularly checking to see if I was on track.

And this system served me well. It helped me obtain a Master’s Degree as a single parent under what many around me called “impossible” circumstances. It helped me teach my second graders all the required curriculum and enrich it in such a way they got much more. It’s helped me change professions a number of times, and become an internationally published author which is something I’ve always wanted to do. It’s helped me in parenting, in personal development, and in more scenarios than I can name.

That system worked while it worked, but last year I felt a new system wanting to be born. This new system was more of an intuitive  one. This new system actually required more of me than my old goal measuring index card did. I would meditate as close to daily as possible without being fanatical and learn to ALWAYS listen and trust my inner guidance. It would help me reevaluate the way I spent my time on a daily basis. What worked for me one day might not be working the next and by listening to the ear behind the ear I would hear that.

Dr. Wayne Dyer promotes the idea of a day by day philosophy. His concept is that at the end of each day you are a completely new person. Your interactions and experiences have made you such. That new person, then, must check in with that trusty voice inside to see if he wants to keep the path or forage a new one. Renew the destination on the GPS. Ask, “Is the direction I’m heading still exactly right for me at this moment?”

Now, this system is my favorite. It’s helped me push my creative boundaries in 2014. It let me know which forks in the stream (I’ve moved from cars to boats) we’re coming and which ones to take. It let me know who to say hello to and who to bid adieu as people got in and out of my boat.

I’ve come to know this past year more than ever that God shows up when we are loving ourselves, loving others, and loving life. Our best gift to the world is to create lives we love, have all kinds of fun, and be ever-present in each moment. In this way, we never miss a sunrise or a sunset.