Live Like You Mean It

"It's 11:59." That's what my husband said as I inched toward him for a New Year's kiss. I was in Trinidad, sitting in front of the computer with a cold glass of Nuvo in hand, winding down after my daughters' birthday party. One turned 3 on 12/31 and the other would be 12 on 1/1 and as our tradition goes, we had a double party to celebrate with our girls. The little friends had all gone home and it was just us in the room. Him laying on the couch and me sitting across from him. I started the year with a kiss from my husband, and that, honestly, has already made my year. I work hard, I try to be a good mother and friend, a good person, a good Christian. But even with a family to raise and bills to pay and business to manage and all the responsibility that comes with being a wife and working mother in a blended family separated my miles of ocean, I am still sooooooooo caught up in love with this man that in those little moments everything fades to black and it's just us...........sealing the old and welcoming the new with a kiss that says, no matter what happens, this is our year.

2009 is going to be a year of BIG changes for me. But I am not the least but scared, worried, or aprehensive. I am embracing every triumph, heartache, failure and lesson this year will bring. My faith got so rooted and grounded in 2007 through 2008, because of the D-R-A-M-A I went through. And people on the outside looking in couldn't/can't understand why I was still smiling in the midst of it all. Ahhhhh but I know the Author and Finisher of my fate. Thank GOD it isn't me because I'd do a pretty good job of messing it up. I am about to bite the biggest bullet ever and take a leap of faith that all things will work together for my good.

This year I am going to be better! I'm going to deepen some relationships and sever others. I'm going to find my voice and speak at the top of my lungs. I'm going to love like there is no tomorrow. I'm going to laugh loud...not the polite "haw haw haw", daintily covering my mouth with my hand, but I am going to laugh from my belly and if I ain't feeling it I won't laugh at all. I'm going to live for me and take care of me so I can be whole for the ones I love when they need me to lean on. I'm going to faithfully get my hair and nails done so my outside matches my inside, and I'm going to stop sweating the small stuff and running around d-o-i-n-g soooo much that I forget to nurture me. I'm going to have my morning prayer time and meditation, and carry positivity and light throughout my day. I'm going to smile from a place deep inside and guard my heart from the joy-stealers that will come my way and try to take that smile off my face. I'm going to avoid the negative talkers and spirit-crushers that will poison my life. I'm going to sow seeds of love and life and light to friends, enemies and strangers alike. I'm going to love those that don't love me and care for those who want to use me. Because love is the ultimate weapon against evil. I'm going to kiss my children and tell them I love them every chance I get. And I am going to l-o-v-e that man of mine like nobody's business! This NEW year is a gift I didn't have to get...and I intend to treasure every sweet second of it!

This year is YET another chance to (you fill in the blank)...use it or lose it. Don't let 2010 find you singing your should-a could-a would-a song. Do it in 2009! Just DO IT...no more flaking and faltering and hemmin and hawin...do IT. Whatever your "it" is. Take that class. Start that business. Go on that trip. Call that man/woman. Buy a house. Start a savings plan. Have a baby. Get married. Get a life! LOL! DO IT and do it good!!! No holds barred...full throttle!

LIVE LIKE YOU MEAN IT!!!

This may be your last chance...

Happy New Year! Be blessed and be a blessing!