Here We Go Again...2010!

Here we go again; another new year. Another new year to reflect on the previous twelve months and seemingly resolute commitments to make the next twelve months better than the last.

When you review 2009 will you do what you did last January? Reflect on and review the repetitive resolutions you once again promised yourself you would adhere to yet failed to deliver?

Yep, me too:
• I’m still practicing ill-advised vises.
• I still haven’t committed to a regular exercise routine.
• My handicap didn’t reach single digits
• I didn’t find or make the time to volunteer my time and effort to those who needed it.
• I didn’t attend church on a regular basis.
• Etc, etc, etc.

I am sure most of you can relate to this annual event and you’re probably taking inventory of 2009’s accomplishments and failures. I have just listed a few of my many failures of 2009. Was 2009 a failed year because I didn’t follow management’s directive to make improvements in certain areas of my life? On the contrary; 2009 was one of the best years of my life and results of this assessment have nothing to do with my balance sheet or material possessions.

Why was 2009 so great? I finally absorbed to my core one of the greatest quotes by Albert Einstein:

“Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”

“Living for others” sounds pretty vague and a little over the top doesn’t it? Living for others doesn’t mean abandoning your priorities or responsibilities or giving it all up and becoming a missionary, though I have great respect for those who do answer that calling. Living for others simply means to use your god given talents and abilities to improve the lives of others. Don’t forget, some of the most important God-given-gifts you have to offer include love, compassion, common courtesy, honor, loyalty and respect. Whether you are compensated for it or not does not matter, your reward is witnessing how others lives are better off for a moment or a lifetime just because of the relationship they experienced with you. Try it. Step out of the framework of your own existence and see how positive interactions with your fellow man improve both of your lives when you give of yourself first without expectation of equal or greater return. The natural laws of attraction will reward you beyond your wildest dreams; professionally, financially, emotionally and spiritually. Try it, I promise 2010 will be one for the books.

Need a little help in knowing how to implement the “living for others” mentality? Try this: Pick three people from three different aspects of your life; family, friends or coworkers, and write down the eulogy you would hope they could deliver at your funeral. What would you hope these people would say about you? Were you honest, loyal, giving, had unequaled work ethic, did you take on challenges with determination and guts, etc. The list could be endless based on who you want to be. This can be a tough exercise. If you are being honest with yourself you will have written down a few personality or character defects that you would just as soon ignore and avoid. This is the beauty of the exercise. Expose yourself and identify those areas that really need or want to be improved. Once you have completed each eulogy, all you have to do is live up to it. “Living up to it” won’t be easy depending on what you have written. But if you want a road map to follow to be the best you can be, to live for others, this is the best I’ve ever run across. By living up to what you have written means you are giving to others the best you have to offer and in the end they will have no other choice but to deliver a eulogy of a great human being.

(If only our government would take the time to complete this exercise and live by it when making decisions for our country.)

Happy New Year 2010!!!!!!!!!