This Is A Great Year

It was my first day back at work for the year today, and I enjoyed dating my paperwork with '14'.  Last year did not turn out at all how we had hoped and I would say it was probably our worst year.  And strangely most people I know have said the same thing about that year.  So I was very excited to see the New Year roll around and put everything behind us.  

There is something about this time of year.  A freshness, and people seem to be a little more positive, a little more hopeful that things will be better this year.  I know I am feeling it, and I have decided that this year, Is A Great Year.  The whole 12 months are going to be wonderful and enriching and the hopefulness I am feeling right now I will carry through all year long.  

I am not talking about resolutions that will be given up and forgotten before the month is out,  but rather setting up more long term goals and having a better attitude and a more positive outlook on everything.  Focusing on what I have rather than what I don't have, stopping to see and enjoy the small pleasures in everyday and making more of an effort to be nice to people when they are being aggressive to me, which is so true for some of my clients at work.  Hubby always reminds me that you get more bees with honey than vinegar.

Not long after I set my goals last year, I was told by someone I respected and admired (at the time) to get rid of them.  That I shouldn't be goal setting and that I shouldn't put so much pressure on myself.  I was to let life happen and enjoy it.  I tried this approach and it didn't work for me.  At the end of the year, off my own back I wrote out how I want my life to look in 10 years time, and that vision fired me up in a way I had not felt for so many years.  I looked at that vision and where I am now, and I knew the only way to get there was to set those goals and 'get crackin'.  Hello 2014, otherwise known as Step One on the country laneway to turn my Rural Dreaming into my Rural Reality.

Grateful

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On Thursday morning I learned of the passing of Zig Ziglar, never have I been more upset about the loss of someone I have never met.

I was first introduced to the work of Zig Ziglar when I dabbled in Network Marketing over 10 years ago and was given a set of cassette tapes of his to listen to.  The network marketing didn't last but Zig Ziglar's message did.  There was something about that Southern accent and "You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want" that stuck to me.  I started where I always start when I embark on something new and that was with 'Success for Dummies', written of course by Zig Ziglar.  I devoured every page of that book, it was as if a light had been turned on and I knew from that point that I would have the life I had dreamt about.  Over time I started to listen to his recordings which by now were downloads on my ipod.  Not long after starting my "automobile university" I met Hubby, and reflecting now, I wonder if things would have been different had I not started the process of becoming a happier and more positive person. 

Around 6 months ago after the wedding was over and we were settled into our house I found myself once again drawn to Zig's message, I bought a few more downloads, ordered a couple of books and introduced Hubby to Zig as well.  A few months ago I started on the self talk card which I can say with total confidence has been the one thing in my life that has lead to so much change lately.  Hubby and I started talking about what we were hearing and began applying the principals Zig taught.  Things started to change for us and we knew that the life we wanted was possible.  

Although we are really only at the start of the journey I am so grateful that I was introduced to the work of Zig Ziglar so many years ago.  And even though he has passed he has left a lasting legacy, he has left an amazing body of work not to mention a family that lives his message each and every day and are teaching a new generation the message of their father.  And that itself makes me think, I know what I want my life to look like, but what legacy do I want to leave?

Inspired

As soon as I read the email I knew we would be going.  I was grateful that we were able to get our tickets pre-sale as they sold out within half an hour.  I had grown up with this man and he had taught me so much.  As a classic nerd with a love of science, his was my idol.  And that voice.  It always made me stop and pay attention.  I was so inspired by his work I found myself at university studying the ins and outs of biology.

On Saturday night Hubby and I were fortunate enough to see Sir David Attenborough.  For over 2 hours we sat, mesmerised.  Such an amazing life.  He sat on stage being interviewed by Ray Martin, sharing his stories throughout his 60 year career.  They showed footage from his early days right up to the new docos he is still making.  It was inspiring to say the least.  In fact I am struggling to find the words to truly capture just how magical a night it was.  It was a night we will both always treasure. 

On the long journey home, Hubby and I talked with such energy.  We were both so inspired.  From that evening we had learned many things, but for us there were two things we really took away.  The first is that this really is a Wonderful World and as such we need to do what we can to save and protect our environment.  The second was simply the amazing life Sir David has had.  Here we are doing the same thing week after week.  That is about to change.  We want an amazing life and to be able to have thousands of stories to share.  While neither of us are going to go trekking through the bush to make a doco, we are going to shake things up and start living an extraordinary life.  It is time to rise about the status quo.  It is time to stop talking and start living.  Today.