A Memorable New Year To All!

Today is the first day of 2010! Can you believe it?

A whole new year of life lays ahead of us, ready to be lived to the hilt and filled with memorable experiences.

At the end of every year, I like to write a list of goals for the new year. Then, when the year has ended, I look over the list and see what has been accomplished. This year more goals were not achieved in their entirety than achieved so improvement in 2010 is needed.

Some years are very challenging and difficult while others glide alone like butter on wheels. The past year was a challenger in many ways. Illness and death both visited our family and left us reeling in sorrow.

Each day of life is precious and tenuous. If we can swing our legs out of bed in the morning and walk to the bathroom, we are, indeed, very blessed. If we lift the windowshades and can see the sunlight gleaming on the newly fallen snow, we are rich with blessings. If we can hear a lone bird singing his winter song, we are among the lucky. If we have coffee to sip and a breakfast to eat with someone we love near by, we are richer than millionaires. If our health is good and we can give thanks for all good people and things in our lives, we are incredibly lucky, indeed.

Each year holds especially precious events and recollections. In 2009, our son got engaged to a lovely, intelligent young woman and that was a milestone. Our daughter and her husband bought a lovely home in the town where we live and our hearts filled with happiness over that accomplishment.

In my own life, taking a three-part blogging workshop and starting this blog, Writing Straight From The Heart, goes right to the top of the list of best things about 2009. Writing and taking photographs for the blog have been joyful for me as well as meeting all the great people in blogland.

Life is awesome! It's an adventure, that's for sure. We have the capability of keeping our thoughts positive and working hard to make each day really count.

Happy New Year to all of you great people in blogland! My wish for each of you is that 2010 will bring you many dreams-come-true!