something to be

It's that time again - where everybody starts setting goals for the next year. 2015 has come and gone and now it's time to bring on 2016. It always amazes me how fast the years pass by, and although I'm welcoming the new year with open arms, I'm very much grateful for the lessons learned, experiences and opportunities gained, and the struggles that 2015 brought into my life.

Normally I sit down at my computer and think about all of the different things that I'd like to accomplish in the upcoming year. Things like: Read scriptures for 30 minutes a day. Go to the temple more. Get skinny. Be happier. Talk to more people. Try harder in school. Save $$$.

While each of these are great goals, I've found that simply setting them without a major game plan doesn't work for me. I don't even make it to Valentine's day before I'm waving off my goals until next year (kudos to you if you do) - which makes for looking back on the year not so enjoyable (at least for me).

So this year I decided I wanted to take a different approach. Rather than set 10+ goals that were almost a guarantee not to happen, I was going to set one, single goal. A goal that I could focus all my time and energy on. A goal that would be much more attainable than numerous little wishes and wants. I started thinking about what I wanted my one goal to be for 2016. I knew that I wanted to be able to be successful at accomplishing it.

I thought back on this past year and asked myself: what is the biggest thing you wish you could change?

Then I started listing off all of the negative things I didn't like about myself or what I wish I was or could be. I quickly realized that this was a common theme from 2015 - that a majority of my thoughts had been generally negative. I found that it was incredibly easy to point out the bad and the ugly before I even began to try and find the blessings.

One thing the Lord likes to remind me of is that my plan is not His. His way is best. And His way is also what will happen. I just have to trust Him. Oh, and have crazy patience....

As I look back on 2015 I realize how much I sat by wishfully dreaming and thinking. I wondered what it would be like if I were doing one thing rather than what I was currently doing. A good portion of my time was spent complaining about current circumstances rather than being grateful for all that I had.

Generally speaking, I'm a pretty positive person. But as the year continued to drag on, I found it much easier to be negative. But being negative got me no where. It didn't make me happier. Didn't make me feel better. In fact it was quite the opposite.

As I contemplated the year, I realized my biggest regret of 2015 was that I sat by wishing for all of the things that I didn't have rather than being grateful for the things that I did have. And then I knew what I wanted my goal for 2016 to:

Buddha said: "All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think, we become."

I believe that our thoughts influence how we perceive life. There have been a lot of times where I've thought that nothing good was happening to me and that I was merely existing. But all around me good things were happening (or had the potential to). There was experience and knowledge to be gained. Opportunities to seize. Blessings to be noticed. Moments of time and love to be shared. And so much more.

I was laying in my bed after a long, exhausting day and told myself that I just wanted to be happy. Or, I guess happiER. I realized that a majority of my happiness is based off of my thoughts and how I react to what happens to and around me.

This year, I want to be positive. I want to count more of my blessings. Smile a little brighter. And walk a little taller so that I can be a little happier. Which will probably mean a lot of 30 second dance parties, midnight drives to the Payson temple, and random Roxberry runs.  

So here's to a new year! A year full of endless possibilities. A year full of new opportunities and experiences. A new year for learning and growing. A year to change. And another year full of memories. 

I wish you and yours the very best 2016 imaginable.