Get out of hibernation and into a new year

Are you ready for a new year? Most of us come out of our holiday

caves in a bit of a cranky, hibernating-bear mode, blinking and saying, "Already?"

But this year, I invite you to jump out of your cave, beat your

chest and bellow something inspiring like: "I'M ALIVE, AND SO ARE YOU!"

Then begin the rapturous journey of living, loving and learning in

12 fresh, juicy, clean months to become what you really, truly want to

become.

If you're still hovering between the "cranky bear" and "I'm alive"

stages, perhaps check out some messages from a short but fun read in a

perky red-covered book by Dan Zadra simply called "5."

In it he shares, "Start by choosing the two most important 'guiding

stars' — your values and your mission. [Then] create goals to help

balance the wheel of your life. Think of your life as a wheel with many

different spokes. To have a balanced life, each spoke needs your

attention."

Think for a minute about your personal life wheel. What is the hub,

the core of what makes you roll along daily, that matters most to you?

Have you taken 10 minutes yet to get quiet and think about what your

ideal life could look like this coming year? Part of anyone's values is

spiritual direction in whatever practice that entails, so I encourage

you to be still and let those feeling-thoughts, as I call them, come to

you.

As they do, write them down without self-editing.

For myself, I did this exercise with 3-by-5 notecards. As the

thoughts came, I simply wrote them one at a time on the cards. Then I