Wow! What a year this has been. There has been some much needed time to meditate, to nourish my soul, and decompress. We all need that regularly, but we keep pushing, keep burning the candle at both ends, till the body, mind or spirit breakdown or worse, give up.

I witnessed what a total lack of taking that time can do to a body, as I buried both my dear sisters this Summer. Going into this New Year, please take time for yourself, and the things you love, and people you love. You owe it to yourself! You only get this life, enjoy it, treasure it, and the people you love while you have time.

Who ever knew that life could be so dictated by what others think of us, and what we think of ourselves? Well, fact is, for most of us it is. So many "live" on the precipice of life, afraid to offend the people who seem to spoon feed us our worth. Kind of like "The Little Train that Could"..."I think I can! I think I can!"

Indeed, we can! It's high time we stopped asking for permission to live our lives. So, some people won't agree with all your choices. So, some of those people may be your family, or friends near and dear to you. You have one life, one shot. Go for it. There truly are no mistakes, just ways that may be better. I would rather enjoy my life even for one day, than life a lifetime full of reasons why I tried to please someone else, by doing what they thought I should. Follow your heart, it won't lead you wrong.

We can either live our lives as someone on hold on a customer service call or live it like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. We can be bemused by all the voices clambering for our attention and people with their how-to's supposedly showing us a better way to live our lives, or if we are brave souls, we can silence the din, fly by the seat of our pants, and chart our own course. Even if we early on let others run our lives and call the shots, but somewhere along the way decide to opt out. It's an extraordinary chance to live life on your own terms and be happy. The Human Factor and desire to make our reality line up with what others perception of success is,, is where we lose ourselves. The expression, "Play to your better angels", really is something we need to do. We're told in Hebrews 1:14 JMNT there are ministering spirits (angels), that are sent  to minister on our behalf.  Truly, these are mostly in human form, both negative and positive. Those speaking life, hope, light, truth, who see our potential are the ones we need to heed, but often not the one's speaking the loudest.
How we see ourselves is vital, so our perception is something that we cannot afford to have skewed by others.
Play to your better angels, even yourself. Guard your heart, your words, and your hearing. Listen to and spend time only with those that draw out the best in you.
 You are who you think you are, so make sure the thoughts are your own and God's, He always sees the best version of you, and you should also. Stand up for the life you want to have. Draw the picture and step into it.