My husband and I, went to watch my son swear in to the Army this morning. We were planning to stay with him until he flew out to his training facility.
There were many young people shipping out today. The Military Processing Facility was packed with family and friends to see them off. As the recruits names were called, they would be ushered into a room for the official swearing ceremony that enlisted them into their designated branch of service. There were so many recruits they had three swearing in ceremonies. My son was in the last group to be sworn in. As the room started to clear out, the recruits remained. Many family members were leaving. I just watched them interacting with each other. No one looked too nervous. Many of the conversations I overheard were about how anxious they were to get to started at training.
At that moment, before the swearing in ceremony, I told my husband that we could head on home after the ceremony. There was no need for us to stay. I realized that my son was no longer my little baby who needed his mom to walk him through this process. He was a young man starting a new chapter in HIS journey. My husband smiled at me and said, “he’s going to be fine, it’s time to let him go.”
The hardest thing to do is to simply get started in whatever you want to do. Often we feel like we have to do everything “just right” in order to start, but that’s not often the case. The more you work on whatever you do, the better it gets over time. Remember that most of us learned to ride a bike with training wheels and as we got better, the wheels eventually came off. When you wish to start something new, it’s okay to use training wheels.
What I love about the new year is that it always brings new opportunities. There is always a sense of excitement and enthusiasm that is just so powerful. This is the time to set your goals and establish positive habits that will help sustain you throughout the year to meet those goals. My wish for everyone during this coming year is lots of happiness, personal growth and abundance.
I worked with a civilian contractor early in my military career. Whenever I would say “life sucks”, Mrs. Brown would reply back with, “life is what you make it.” Now more than 25 years later, I finally understand what she was trying to say. What we choose to focus on, is what we attract, whether “good” or “bad”. In other words, like Facebook, once you begin a search, it will continue to feed your timeline with similar posts.
I learned to celebrate the victories no matter the size. It is the little victories along the way that provide the motivation to keep going. Yesterday, I reached 50 likes on this blog site. When I started, I could not even come up with a steady topic to write about. I know that every little victory is leading to a big win. The hardest part is just to start!
I used to argue, fuss and fight to voice my opinion. Those days are long gone. People are quick to offer up opinions based on what “they” believe. For example, if someone says that something you want to do is “impossible” it is based on the opinion that it is impossible for “them”. Realizing this, instead of arguing, I allow folks to “keep” their opinion and I go about with my own. I just say “watch me!”
In life, the most precious gift we have been given is time so don’t waste it on contemplating what your “not” good at. Take time and take an inventory list of all the things you are good at. What make you you. Once you have your list, keep it handy. Life starts to open up when we play to our strengths, rather than your weaknesses.
In one of the books I read, it stated that we can not connect the dots unless we look back. Looking back is good once in a while, but your future is in front of you. Learn to reconcile and appreciate all of the events in your past because they have made you the person you are today. That means the choices you make today, will lead you to the person you wish to become tomorrow. How cool is that? You can become the master of your fate and the captain of your soul!
I try to plan my week out so that I have a sense of direction and plan activities accordingly. I utilize both my smartphone for most events and a daily calendar for daily tasks. By having a projected forecast of activities, I can accommodate for unforeseen changes in my schedule without feeling overwhelmed and stressed out. Most days I can easily reschedule things and still accomplish my important tasks.
Sweet N Social 
