Welcome to 2009 and the chance to create a truly wonderful New Year! If you are like most of the people I’ve been talking with, you are more than glad to say goodbye to 2008. The question then is: what will you create in its place?
Past the typical New Year’s resolutions (lose weight, learn to speak Chinese, keep up with my filing), I sense a much deeper yearning for stability in these hard economic times and peace of heart to face the ever-escalating violence in our world. Can you feel it, too? It’s as if our society needs to take a collective deep breath and slowly exhale.
Not a bad idea. After a few deep breaths, I am now ready to face the future. Given that I have little influence over the economy or world peace, I am instead looking at those opportunities I have to make a difference. What I have planned is nothing grand really, just a promise to myself to live a more grateful life.
I am truly grateful for the special people I meet every day through SHARE and for all the old friends I’ve met along the way. Each day I know my work will involve being with really good people. That’s something worth getting out of bed for in the morning! Yet in the press of the business day, while dealing on meat prices and coordinating deliveries, it is easy to lose sight of how fortunate I am to be part of the SHARE family.
Albert Einstein said, “Difficult times create great opportunities.” In this New Year, I invite you to join me in creating opportunity in each day and giving thanks for the family and friends that are life’s most precious treasure. May 2009 be a time of renewed hope and abundant happiness for us all.