Take Inventory of Your Life

My birthday was last week.  Yay!  I turned 39.  Thirty-eight was a great year.  I earned my black belt. My business started to take off.  I learned a lot about myself.  I started this blog--and am still doing it. I started to take over another business.  I had a couple great trips with my family and/or my hubby.  I took on a huge project as a side hustle and have it 99% completed at the time of this writing--which is way ahead of the scheduled completion date, I might add.  I had some fantastic time with my kids as we traveled and as we just lived life.

As I was talking with my coach last week, she asked me what rating on a scale of 1-10 I would give myself for this year as we talked about setting goals for next year.  My initial response was 4 1/2. Her beautiful and patient response was to calmly say, "Would you like to tell me more about that number?" To which I immediately thought of all the things I didn't get completed.  I didn't get all my debt paid off...but I did host Financial Peace University alongside my husband to help others get on track to getting out of debt.  I didn't cut back on my hours at my job to part time from my current full time...but I managed a huge project in my off hours and got it done in a timely manner.  I didn't finish writing the novel I started...but I started it.  It took me 6 1/2 years to get my black belt...and I got my black belt.  Hello.  I didn't reach my goal at the gym to do a one-handed handstand on a kettle bell...but I did conquer the rope climb for the first time in my life.  And I got my black belt.  I didn't surprise each of my friends with lavish gifts on their birthdays...but I did do lunch or coffee with almost all of them.   I didn't read all of the Bible...but I did consistently read and do devotions.  What an amazing year I've had.

I'm not telling you all these things to tell you how great I am.  It is very easy for me to go to that place where I see that I didn't measure up, that I didn't accomplish all I wanted to accomplish, where I wasn't perfect.  I will never be perfect, though, and sometimes just reaching for excellence is enough. I'm learning to have joy in the journey.  It still amazes me all the lessons I learned on my path to black belt;  It's never too late.  We all have the same amount of time.  It's how we use it that matters. You're never too old.  I am disciplined.  I enjoy the process.  I'm a writer.  I can choose to make family and friends a priority.  

As we head into 2016 in just a couple weeks, I'm reflecting on 2015.  It has been amazing.  It's beautiful.  I would encourage you to look back before you turn and look forward.  What are you thankful for?  What did you accomplish?  What did you mess up on...that you will do differently next year?  As I went back over the year in my mind, I changed my answer from a 4 1/2 to a 7 1/2.  There are still a lot of things that I want to accomplish, but I'm enjoying the journey and I'm giving myself credit for the things I did do.  Growth is a process and it doesn't happen overnight.  What's your top 3 favorite events in 2015?  I'd really love to hear about it below.

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