For 2012: Believe!

Not really sure why, but it seems that always at the end of the calendar year we take time to review our lives, where we are and where we want to go. We look at the year past and we find the highlights and give thanks; we look at the down points, and with luck we forgive and forget, we pass the page. And then the fun starts, we think of what we want to do in the next new year. It’s like starting a brand new note pad, with the promise of infinite possibilities. This is when we dream, we set goals, we imagine our lives turning into what we want. Lists are made, priorities are set, and we pledge to change certain things and attain and accomplish others.

So while you are all out there doing this, I want to share with you my one and only goal for 2012, and hope that you have it on your lists to. For 2012 I want to Believe.

For 2011 I had one wish and one goal. My wish was true love, and I got love, lots of love. And my goal was to let go, and let go I did. I learned a lot about letting go and letting things happen, not trying to control so much, and letting things occur as they may. It wasn’t easy, and I certaintly need to continue, but it was a great start, and now I feel I’m more in the flow of things.

But, after a long, much needed Skype session with my friend Rachel some weeks ago, I have come to realize that I have hope, but not so much faith. I have hope that things will happen, I want them to happen, I wish for them to happen, but do I truly believe, do I have faith? Not so much. I doubt, and I need to leave the doubt aside and believe, unconditionally, just believe.

And so 2012 will be the year in which I practice having faith, believing and trusting the plan, the ultimate letting go and allowing for things to happen, as they are supposed to happen, without me sabotaging them. Letting go and letting God. Just Believe.

Wish me luck, and may your resolutions be as fruitful in 2012 as ever!

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 4,600 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 4 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Favorite Photos

I’ve been in Miami for the holidays for almost 2 weeks. For 5 of those days Mike was here, at my parents, with me. We did a ton of eating, drinking, playing, and fun family time. These are my favorite photos so far:

Are you living the life you were meant to?

I get Ripples every Monday and today’s seem very apropos for a new year. So as we prepare for a new beginning, lets keep in mind staying true to ourselves. Here goes:

PEBBLE
Is the life I’m living
the life that wants
to live in me?
-Parker Palmer

BOULDER
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
-Steve Jobs, submitted by Nick in New Jersey

PONDER
As we prepare to wrap up 2011 and launch another year, this is a great week to think about the lives we are living: decisions made, paths taken, opportunities pursued.  If you conclude that any of your choices have led you in a direction that is not working as you intended, decide that 2012 will be about charting a new course so that a year from now you can more confidently answer YES to the question raised in the pebble above.

Peace,
Paul

Merry Christmas

May your holidays be wonderful, filled with joy, laughs, peace, family and health. All the very best to all my blogger friends.

Hope it was great!

Off to Miami!

I’m off to Miami tonight peeps. I’ll keep you posted from there when I get a chance.

Best of holidays to you!

First Snow

During the weekend we got the first big snow fall of the season. We had had a snow fall sometime last week, but it wasn’t that big, and didn’t last too much either. This one was around for at least two days. Take a look:

It was fun (brrr) out there early in the morning…

It definitely is a Wonderful Life

On Sunday we went to see a matinee showing of “It’s a Wonderfult Life” at the Hollywood Blvd Theater, which is an eat-in style kind of theater, and the actress who played Zuzu Bailey was there, signing autographs and telling stories about the shooting of the film. She was six at the time, and now is 71.

It’s such a great movie, and a perfect way to get into the holiday spirit!

What have I been up to?

I haven’t been blogging too much lately. I could blame it on the holiday season and being too busy to write, but the truth is I haven’t been feeling “it” lately. I know writing helps me get things “out” and I should do it even if I don’t want to, because there’s always this relief, this letting go, that comes after writing which is always pleasant, and usually after I write and get things out, I tell myself “why didn’t I do that sooner?” It’s like going to yoga, or for a jog, or taking a nap, a bubble bath or a glass of wine, when you really need one. But for some reason I can’t really put my finger on, I’ve been putting it off.

So let me just share some things I’ve been up to lately, in picture format.

Working from home and watching Max snuggle while it gets colder and colder around these parts.

Scoring some thrown out chairs while walking Max in the middle of the afternoon (benefits of working from home).

Going back to Rocks for the best curly fries and burgers on pretzel bread ever!

And stopping by Phoebe’s Cupcakes for some gingerbread cupcakes, after morning weekend walks with the boys.

And on the topic of food: Portillo’s (yum!), Cold Stone and dinner at BlackFinn in downtown Naperville, where I had never been before (it’s very pretty with all it’s lights during the holidays).

And last, but certainly not least, in fact these were my favorite happenings this past week, getting early Christmas presents from the Sandersons, thanks I loved them!

So there you have it, an brief update of my life lately. More to come, hopefully soon, promise.

XMas

Christmas is upon us and I have to say this year has been completely non stressful, thank God. I love Christmas, but the whole decorating, buying gifts, writing cards, mailing things out to all corners of the world and traveling during the holidays, tends to get a bit too much, and ends up adding a layer of stress we could all do without.

I stress easily, I have to admit. I sometimes can manage and control it. But other times, it gets to be too much, and it spreads onto how I treat others too. I hate when that happens. But this year, there’s been little to no stress around Christmas. My ticket to Miami was purchased the first week of November, and by the end of black Friday/cyber Monday week all my gifts had been purchased and on their way somewhere (NY, Miami or Chicago).

I got on it with my Christmas cards too. It might have been that I had them all along. I purchased them last December and had them ready to go whenever I needed them this year. So I sat down a few mornings and nights, before and after work, and got all 60 of them out the door. I’m guessing the local and national ones have already arrived, and the international ones are on their way.

I’m not decorating my apartment this year. Since I will be in Miami for both Christmas and New Years, there seemed to be no point. So no Christmas tree it is. Although, I do pine after the trees every morning when I pass by the tree stand in the corner, but it really makes no sense to spend that money and not be here for Christmas, or have any presents to lay under the tree, since they have all been shipped already.

I do have a wreath Mike’s mom gave me, so my door looks like the promise of more Christmas fun inside, when truly, that’s the most Christmassy it got around here. Well, I have a poinsettia my mom got me when she was here, and a Santa bowl filled with chocolate on the coffee table, but that’s it. I’ll get my fix at my parents with their tree and their decorations… and the food, the traditional Venezuelan food I’m salivating over as we speak!

Are you stressing over Christmas? Going anywhere to celebrate it? Traveling or staying in? Or are you decorated to gills already and all set up?