As I close out another year, I find myself taking time to go back over my diary, my thoughts, my posts, my work and my life in general.  I am surprised (not sure why) at how quickly another year has gone by.  They go faster and faster!  Gone are the days as a child when there seemed to be an endless wait for birthdays, holidays, summer vacation, or even the end to a boring day!  No more.

My step daughter gave me a book called Positive Matters last Christmas and for the year I have lived with a word a week.  Well, most weeks.  I did lose track during the summer.  It was fun to do this.  Choose a word.  Live with it, write about it, meditate on it.  Today I chose one just to close out 2015 and begin the new year.  The word I randomly selected is “SERENE”

The definition is bright, clear, unobscured, calm, placid, undisturbed.

So am I a serene person?  I think the outside world would say yes.  My husband, a few very close friends and my honest self would say NO.  I would like to be a serene person but I am not.  Behind the facade of a confident, educated, extrovert lies a “glass half-empty” personality that appears confident and secure.  To be even more honest, I envy serene people.  My mom and her mother before her being two.  They have a mysterious inner power that seems to radiate out of them and have a calming effect on anyone else in the room with them.  The attract people like magnets too.

So I am going to make a promise to myself as I walk into 2016.  I am going to plant a serenity seed in my spiritual garden.  I will water it.  Nurture it.  I will see if I can cultivate some within myself.

Can you really teach an old dog new tricks?  Yes I believe you can.

Happy New Year!