I don’t know about you, but I don’t make resolutions. If I do I am bound for failure. Then that failure leads to anxiety and low self-esteem. And then anxiety and low self-esteem can lead to bad habits. For me, drinking. I have been sober now for almost 21 years, and I am grateful “one day at a time” how far I have come in belief in myself, in accepting my afflictions along with my successes.

So what I do at the beginning of a new year is ask the Lord, or maybe for you your Higher Power, to guide me to do His will, to give me the where with all to achieve the goals I have, and to accept my failures. For example, I am writing a second book, “A Spiritual Journey Through Art”, a book on how certain works of art I have seen in my lifetime that have touched me to my very core. My intention is to complete it and have it published by the end of 2018. With the way my brain works, it is difficult to remain focused hours at a time. But I know I will do my best to achieve my goal. If I don’t, I will not, cannot, allow myself to spiral downward into a danger zone.

And, I save quotes that inspire me on a daily basis. Here are a few, and maybe they will inspire you as well...

“A year from now, you will wish you had started today.”

"Do not compare yourself to others, because you limit your potential in me"

“When one door closes, another opens, but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one that has opened for us.”

“Just for today, help me, God, to remember that my life is a gift, that my health is a blessing, that this new day is filled with awesome potential, that I have the capacity to bring something wholly new and unique and good into this world...

Just for today, help me, God, to remember to be kind and patient to the people who love me, and to those who work with me too. Teach me to see all the beauty that I so often ignore, and to listen to the silent longing of my own soul...

Just for today, help me, God, to remember You...

Let this be a good day, God, full of joy and love.”

Amen