Counting Down to the New Year

The end of December is one of my favorite times of year!  The Christmas rush is over, and I can start to look ahead to the New Year.  Traditionally, it is also a time to clean the house, so I have been busy washing windows, cleaning closets and decluttering my abode.  It is also when I have to do my annual inventory of all of the "nuts and bolts" that keep my business running.  I am SO NOT looking forward to that part!  Do you have any idea how many swivel hooks, D-rings, purse chains and turn locks I have in stock?  ME NEITHER! 

As many of you know,  I don't DO New Year's Resolutions.  I do set business goals around this time of year just so that I don't stagnate and get lazy, but I don't like setting myself up for failure by promising to not overeat or the like.  I prefer to set goals and take steps to achieve them.  I pull up my sales records for the year, and analyze which accounts I can work on to increase sales to and then set myself to go about doing it! 

In place of making resolutions, for many years now, I have instead taken the opportunity to reflect back on the past year by stating what was my "best" and "worst" of the year.  Some years it seems that nothing all that remarkable has happened and it is harder to identify the best and worst.  This year, the "worst" comes to me easily.  It was having my mother in law get sick last spring and then pass away a few weeks ago.  It is always hard losing someone who is such a part of your life. 

Thinking about the best thing is a comfort to me.  I had several really great things this year. My mom came out here in the spring and we got to spend some time just laying in the sun and relaxing together.   MM and I got to go over to Kauai for our anniversary.  I adore Kauai so that was such a treat!  Then we got to go see my mom this fall and help make sure she was all set for winter.  Seeing that she is getting by better than she was last year made me feel more at ease.  Then we went to Seattle and my daughter and son in law were able to make the trip up there to see us.  It was a short visit but it meant so much to me.  So when I think about all of those things, and ask myself, "what was the best thing of 2013?", I have to just sum it up by saying "Family".  Not just my own family either, but I got to experience something special this year with MM's family.  I was so touched at how the whole family rallied together and took care of his mom so that it wasn't too overwhelming for any one of us.  What a gift that everyone came together and honored her wish to die at home. 

I hope that your "bests" outweighed your "worsts" this year.  But even if they didn't, I do hope you find comfort in realizing that no matter how bad your "worst" was, you survived!  As long as you live, there is hope for better days.  Let's make 2014 a great year! 

a hui hou