2008...The year of New Beginnings

Happy New Year to All!!! I pray that you had a blessed Holiday Season with family and friends and are now ready to have the most fulfilling and successful year ever. I am going to make every effort to have the year that I know God wants me to have...spiritually, physically, socially, and financially.

Over the holiday season, I took some time to try and figure out what my purpose is on this piece of land we call earth. Well, I figured one thing out...it takes more than a week to determine what your purpose is in life. Nonetheless, I did determine some areas (gifts, talents, and/or resources given by God) that I need to expand in my life that may open doors in determining what my purpose or purposes are in my life. A few of the key areas are "my mind", "my art", and "my relationships". I realize that these are key areas that I must continue to grow throughout my lifetime.

It is said that we only use 10% of our brain's capacity. If that is the case, what is the other 90% doing? I am planning to use at least an additional 1% over the next year to improve my intellect, my common sense, and my overall perception of life and the world we live in. And I pray that I can use a portion of that 1% to become a better husband to my wife. I think we men may have a 350-pound defensive lineman in our brain preventing us from using that additional brainpower to think of new and innovative ways to make our wives happy. Even though our wives may be as happy as they can be, I know there are a million ideas roaming around in our (the husbands) heads that we can do to make our wives even more happier. I am going to try and find a few of those ideas in my head this year. I hope I don't get lost looking for them.

My Art. God gave me the gift/talent of art...drawing, painting, and even singing. I plan to expand or stretch myself in all three of these areas this year. I have ignored a couple of them for quite some time now and I know that God has a purpose for the gifts/talents he has given me. I have to make it happen in 2008.

My Relationships. Well the first one I am focusing on is my relationship with God. That is a relationship I feel that everyone reading this should focus on...no matter what level you feel you are on with God. There will always be room for improvement until the day we leave this earth...might as well start now since tomorrow is no guarantee. Next relationship is with my wife. I won't even start listing the areas that I know I need to improve on with this one. All I will say is that I going to give my all to develop and expand this relationship. Then comes my family...immediate and extended. The hustle and bustle of life sometimes takes a lot of time away, causing time to be lost with keeping up with family. I am not talking about anything drastic, but it may be drastic for some people out there. As a goal, let's take the time to reach out to family members periodically to see how things are going in their lives. The same goes for friends. It is my goal to make time to build and make stronger relationships with my friends, both old and new. There is something to be gained on both ends when you have strong relationships.

My pastor and my spiritual mother (also a pastor) stated that 2008 is the year of new beginnings. Let's make it that...a new beginning. Leave all the negative aspects of your life in 2007. Let 2008 be your new beginning...especially in your marriage. Let this be a year of growth in your marriage, a year of understanding in your marriage, a year of ever increasing love in your marriage. I know I am throwing out some big challenges, but I have to hype myself up to really get this year going. I hope you are doing the same.

Let me know your thoughts.

Be blessed and talk to you soon.