“New Year. New Me.”

I am sure you have heard or even said the expression before…..”New Year, New Me” or “New Year, New You.”

As we approach the end of another year we tend to reflect on the year’s accomplishments and failures. If you are like me, you will be overcome with emotion about what you have done….or maybe a little too focused on what you have failed to do. 

I know I do more often than I should.  We are our toughest critic in life. Others see the great things we are doing/have done but all we tend to see is the failures. 

When we lost our youngest son this consumed me.  Maybe if I did this differently, that different or did more he would somehow still be with us.  My wife and I moved mountains for him, as most parents would, and even after that I struggled in the failure and loss of what else I could have done.  I failed as a father to keep my kid safe and to protect him. 

What others saw were the sacrifices we made for him, the mountains moved, the job changes, the 2 years of days and nights in the hospital, selling a home, buying a new home, moving the day after Christmas to give him better support in a different county, moving school districts for better support, and the joy and happiness we had with him and inclusion into our family.  The new path in life he put us on and the joyous moments and heaping amounts of LOVE we had with him in our life. 

These losses and failures large and small consume us daily and especially at the end of the year.  We promise to change by a magical date on the calendar.  “Starting January 1st, I am going to change”…..”Starting January 1st, I am going to get in shape”……”Starting January 1st I am (insert your own challenge/goal)”……

My question to you (and me) is why wait for a magical day on a calendar?  Address the change you NEED in your life TODAY.

CELEBRATE your WINS more, and please don’t let your failures and losses consume you like they did for me...learn from them and FAIL FORWARD…one step at a time.

You crawl before you walk, walk before you run, and run before you sprint.

Let’s start winning the days in-between (the small steps) and you will see yourself reaching those accomplishments and see a "New You".  Be present today and don’t wait for a magical day to start the change you need in your life.

I wish you all a Safe and Happy New Year! 

Win the days in-between,