As I face the middle of my fifth decade on this planet, I have to say that first of all – where is time going? But more importantly, it gives me pause to think about my life and what I’ve accomplished…or not. Birthdays have a tendency to do that, no? And since mine falls in the middle of the year, it’s a great time to re-evaluate my New Year’s goals.
 
My master plan for this year looked alot different on January 1 than it does at my ‘mid-year performance review’. Some goals have been accomplished and I’m happy about that. Others will need to either be discarded or tweaked since many circumstances have changed. 

If I look back over my life, a master plan never existed. Oh sure, I had goals of marriage, career, family and a home but a specific plan for me or my dreams? Not really.  

What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?

When I was younger, I wanted to be a lawyer and live on Park Avenue in New York City. I’ve no idea where this idea came from as I have no affinity for the law nor would I ever want to make New York City my home for that matter. I was not exposed to either of these as a child, so the fact that this was my ‘dream’ is nothing short of lunacy or perhaps just too many Frosted Flakes and Inspector Gadget cartoons!

During my corporate career, I wanted to simply rise above the ranks in my field but that was motivated more by money and prestige than following my passion. My passion during this time was raising two babies and making sure there was a roof over our heads.

When my corporate career came to a halt, I thought I hit pay dirt and opened my small business. Creating my award-winning baby journal and other baby gifts was one of the proudest moments of my life. However, I learned that running a product-oriented business is not for the faint of heart or credit-limit challenged!

I’ve had a few returns to corporate America; some fruitful, some not. This year I decided that I’d had enough and struck out on my own once again. But this time, I was going to do what I loved – write. For years I’ve been saying, “If I could just make money writing, life would be perfect!”

Well – here I am. A budding freelance writing business is in full swing thanks to the grace of God and my letting go of the corporate apron string. Months ago, I took a leap of faith and the work appeared. And appeared.  

In God We Trust

As I celebrate my and our country’s birthday, I’m filled with gratitude. Gratitude that I live in a country that enables me to do what I love. Are there challenges? Are there mines to navigate? Sure! But that’s where my faith comes in.
 

Oh sure – there’ve been days when I was skeptical and “oh yikes what have I done?” exited my lips but then I go back to this simple truth that I put on my 2017 goals.