Day 3: Trying something new and exciting for 2016

(c) 2016 P. Lynne Designs

On day 3 of the series I want to tackle my plans for trying something new for 2016.  We all want something out of the new year.  In fact, and my opinion, very few people want to stay where they are.  The average person is NOT resistant to change, if they are the ones who are making a change.  No one should be forced to make a change in their life, UNLESS the very thing they are doing is harming them in some way. 

A year ago, I had mentioned that I have stopped calling resolutions just that, and started calling them “goal setters”.  These are my goals for the new year.  My pastor had mentioned on New year’s eve that if you say “resolution”, you are bound to break them within the first few weeks of the new year.  Another thing is how are you going to “resolve” your situation?  For example, if you say in your resolution that you are going to be a better person than in 2015, I want to know how.  Just do it, and do not be quick to say, “I just broke my resolution already”, you just set yourself up to fail. 

So one of my “goals” for 2016 is to try something new that I did not try in 2015.  I have given this a lot a thought, and some of it is not cheap, maybe.  It all depends, but if I cannot do it this year, there is always 2017, 2018, heck 2020 if I let it go that long.  Hey, if I have to wait until 2035, I will, LOL.  No, I will not let it go on that long.  Besides that, that thing that I want to do this year may be obsolete by 2035, at least the 2016 version may be, plus I will be 71, yikes!  I hope I will be a rockin’ senior citizen.

Sorry, went off-topic, where was I?  Oh, yes the new things I want to try for 2016.  This is a round up so here we go: (Warning:  Affiliate Links ahead)

1.       Education.  I stopped going to school after I earning my bachelor’s degree in marketing in 2003.   I have always love learning since the age of 3, and I have not stopped really going to school since that time.  I learn in other ways now, through webinars, and online classes.  I want to go back to get my master’s in the same subject, but I want to gear it towards what I am doing now.  I never got that marketing job working for a marketing or ad agency, mainly because I had failed attempts in getting an internship at these agencies.  Their reasons were simple:  either they ran out of funds to pay me (they could had offered me a non-paying internship), or some other excuse.  After working in retail, my focus has changed, I am now an entrepreneur with a stationery company.  I also want to continue to take classes in what I am doing now.  For instance, I was looking at the Craftsy website, and I saw so many classes, but the one I saved to my wish list is one called, “Cards with Dimension: Lovely Layers, Textures, & Embellishments”.  I started layering my cards last year, and love them.  This class will really help with my cards, but I want more out of them.  So this is the class I chosen to start with.

2.       Being positive.  No, this is not something I am great at lately.  I am blessed, I am grateful, but I had a lot of stuff I have gone through in the past 12-24 months, and it is high time I let it go and move on. (See, Elsa is not the only one who can sing this song).   I am always the one who tries to look at a glass half full, but these months, I have looked at them half empty, because of the things I have gone through and witnessed.  I am not going to list them here, but you can look through my blog, and find the posts. Along those same lines, I am going to watch what I say in comments, especially if another negative person started the argument.  I was looking back at some of my comments I made on Disqus (I have an account), and I did not like what I said in some of the 54 comments I made in the past 4 years.  Granted some were warranted, but I should have worded the comments differently to show a more positive spin on the thoughts I was thinking of.  I did not curse, that is not my way, but they were degrading towards the negative person, and that is what they want.  That is why they did not answer me back with an even more degrading reply.  I even called someone a moron.  It is amazing what comes out of my mouth at 2 am. No more late night commentaries for me.

3.        Do what I say.  OK, this one is a little harder.  I have said in the past 12-24 months that this is the year I am going to get (Blank).  I have let my finances rule over what I am going after, and this is part of the negativity I have been fueling lately.  I want a new house, I want a newer car, and I want a newer musical keyboard.  The current home, even though I am blessed to be in it, I have been here for over 10 years, and this condo is not really private.  I will not go into details about my complaints since my newer neighbors moved in over a year ago.   The current car, love it, but the hatch is heavy.  Minor problem that I am living with.  Current musical keyboard is on its last leg, and I had it since 1999.  That is a long time for a keyboard. (yes, you can keep pianos until infinity if you need to, not so much for keyboards).  If you have goals for this stuff, go for it, but do not live beyond your means.  Me too.

So that is it for trying something new.  I will list other goals in future posts, so, be safe, be warm. It is briskly cold in Ohio.  (I want to go to Florida or the Bahamas, maybe California or Hawaii, but help!!!!)

Day 29, 30, & 31: Reflection

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016

Please note:  I had something very different that I wanted to write on this last day of 2015.  

This is a tip for you would be writers and current writers: Do not settle on your first manuscript, blog post, or even love letter.  If something is not write (right), set it aside and pick it up later.  If you still feel the same way about the subject and content of that piece, go for it.  If not, go with your gut and write about something else.  Do not scrap the original.  With this technology, it is so easy to save it on a flash drive or in the cloud.  When the time is right, and you will know, pick up where you left off, and publish it at that time.  Sometimes, like now, you just have to scrap the piece.  Why?  Well in my case, I started writing it a couple days ago, I was angry at the way my Christmas evening ended, and it did not feel right for me to dump my problem on you, my readers.  Another tip:  never write in anger, if you never come across like that in your writings.  Calm down.  Never tell a stranger your problems, especially in writings.  People with problems look for negativity.  They want others to wallow in their misery with them. That’s human nature.  We want people to feel happy when we are happy, sad when we are sad, and so on…. Why do you see so many comments from people when a blog post or a video is posted?  Humans love to be entertained, especially with anything that makes them negative.

Anyway, back to the topic…

I want to say that this has been a year of many roller coaster rides.  Some I expected, such as trying to get my businesses stronger, and growing more and more with Christ.  I had some issues I had to continue to work out from 2014, such as the death of one of my friend’s child, but I am at peace with it.  Some things I did not expect, such as my accident at the end of July.  I am still scared of making left-hand turns, and it is going to take me a while to turning with confidence.  Overall, it was events, like my accident that helps me reflect on how good God is, and how he works.

I am not happy about the events of this country in terms against Blacks, especially the children.  I am particularly upset in terms of the two police officers of shot and killed a 12-year old child in Cleveland, Ohio.  These two officers, who are supposed to be upholding the law, shot this kid, A KID, WHO HAD A TOY GUN!! Sorry, I am screaming about this, but they never questioned him, never questioned his age.  Then, when his sister, who was also under 18 tried to go to his rescue, they arrested her for seeing about her own little brother.  Where is the justice in that?  Whatever happened to asking questions?  Two days ago, these two officers were told by the city of Cleveland, they acted according to the law and will not be charged for the crime.  It is a crime, people, against a child.  Well enough with this subject, because I can write a whole post on the subject.  BTW, yes, all lives matter, but when it comes to brown skin, I guess not.  Something needs to change, ASAP.

OK, I am done….

2016

There will be some changes in my life, and I want to share.  No, it is nothing bad, just my words of affirmation for 2016.  I have thought about them throughout the year, and I must say that I am pretty pleased with them.  I started saying them back in 2012, but I was just saying the words.  Nothing held water in them.   The more I chose a word each year, the more committed I wanted to be with a word.  For 2016, I have several, and it is not because I was indecisive, it is because I have many aspects of my life.  You may see it in these next few sentences.

Words.

1.        Truth.  Would you believe I found this word a few days ago while playing one of those stupid games on Facebook?  It was called “Find your word for 2016”, and I know you are laughing, but here me out. I had to think about this word for a moment, and I had to ask myself, what is my truth? Am I being true to myself?   To others?

2.       Authenticity.  It goes along with truth.  How authentic am I? I am basically a quiet, shy person when I first meet you, but I have a business that has clients.  This comes to this next word…

3.       Authority.  When you are naturally quiet like I am, it looks like to the surface that I am a pushover.  Not so fast, my friend.  I can be a leader when I need to, but I do not like to push it around.  It is one thing to say what you can do and will do for a client, friend, or family member, but it is another to just let them just walk all over you.  Trust is a co-word of authority.

4.       Creative.  I put this in my business, mainly because I make art, music, dance, and make dreams happen.  I want this business to be a blessing to all who request a product, be it cards, scrapbook, or a written document.   With that being said, I may have to make my other business (an Independent Home Consultant) to part-time.  It all depends on where I am at with this business.

Well, that is it for this series.  I hope you enjoy it.  I am taking off for a couple of days to get situated and to prepare to organize the month of January.  So I hope you have a safe New Year’s eve and day.  Goodbye, 2015, I cannot say it has been all fun, but I thank God I am alive.  Hello 2016, and welcome to a new day, a new year, and a new adventure.  I cannot say that it going to be a great year, but it will be a great year if you let it be. THINK POSITIVE AND BE PRAYERFUL NO MATTER YOUR BELIEF SYSTEM IS.