Photo courtesy of canstockphoto.com/PixelsAway

It’s the end of the year and I think it’s time to reflect.
Look back at the last 12 months and try to be retrospect.
Did I have a good year? Did I accomplish enough?
When reviewing my own life, I know I can be tough.

Here is what I did. It truly seems like a lot.
So why then do I feel that really it is not?

During the Wayne Dyer workshop I attended back in January, Dr. Dyer said something that really stuck with me. He said “When given the choice between being right and being kind, choose kind.”

For months following the workshop, I diligently adhered to this philosophy; but lately, I realize that I’ve slacked off and fallen back to my old ways.

My husband probably bears the brunt of that. He has told me on various occasions that I always have to be right; I always have to get the last word in … to which I want to respond, “no, you do,” which of course if I did, I’d be proving him right!

Last week I talked about dabbling outside your comfort zone and the benefits of feeling the fear and doing it anyway. There’s another element that comes into play when stepping outside of your comfort zone and that is trust.

• Trust in your ability to accomplish what you want.
• Trust that anyone or anything you need will appear as your need dictates it.
• Trust that you can overcome any obstacles or weather any storm.

In other words, you need to take a leap of faith. By definition, a leap of faith is the act of believing in or accepting something intangible or unprovable without empirical evidence.

Throughout my life I have taken leaps of faith. That said, I know that the leaps I’ve taken over the years have different characteristics.

Photo courtesy of canstockphoto.com/michaklootwijk

Writing can be a solitary profession. It’s really easy to spend the entire day in front of the computer working on your book, working on your blog or researching information on a myriad of topics.

However, there are aspects to writing that aren’t solitary at all. When building a platform to promote your writing, you need to reach out using as many forms of social media as you’re comfortable with. Trying to learn the nuances of the trade is often best learned from others who have traveled this well trodden path. This means seeking out strangers who are willing to share with you the knowledge they have gained.

Honestly, I like the solitary aspect of writing. It’s not that I’m not a social person. I think anyone who knows me would probably say I’m outgoing and sociable. It’s just that hunkering down in front of my computer falls completely in my comfort zone. Reaching out to strangers and talking with them … not so much.

Photo courtesy of canstockphoto.com/leungchopan

Having gratitude means being thankful for what you have today. This can be anything:

• Having a roof over your head
• Having food to eat
• Wonderful people in your world
• Animals who unconditionally love you

All of these should be appreciated and cherished. I wish I could say I am the type of person who expresses my gratitude all the time to all those people and animals in my world who help me, support me, and make me laugh. Sadly, I am not. It’s not that I’m not grateful because truly I am; it’s just that I don’t articulate it often enough.

The truth is, I get caught up in day to day minutiae and more often than not that drives my thoughts and emotions. Family, finances, publishing a book consume my thoughts; dogs, writing a book, keeping up with this blog and running a household direct my actions. This leaves very little time for me to step back and look at the bigger picture. Or, so I think …