Gratitude

      When you are pushing forward, it's easy to continually be looking towards the future - eyes to the horizon.  You think about everything you are working on and imagine what things will be like as you move forward.  Business will bigger and better, you'll have more money, eventually more time, your children will be easier to manage, you'll be able to travel more and all the things you dream about will be realized.  

     The problem with continually looking forward is that it makes the present moment seem duller in comparison.  You lose sight of all that you have because all you see are the things you don't have yet.  I am as guilty of looking forward as anyone.  When I was younger I frequently was so worried about what lay ahead that I lost sight of what was in front of me.



    As I stand at the threshold of a new year I am aware of all the things yet to come - there is so much I am working on and pushing toward.  And yet, I don't want to focus too much on the year ahead.  What will be will be.  Instead, I find myself looking back at the year that has passed.  

Me and my siblings on the eve of my sisters wedding.

      2014 was an amazing year.  When I reflect on all that happened, I am filled with a sense of gratitude and wonder.  I love my family.  I love the things I am working on.  I am grateful for the country I live in and all the people who make it great.  We live in an amazing world filled with such beauty and wonder.  All it takes to see it is to slow down a little and look around.  

My Chloe, under a chalk umbrella she drew.

      As I move forward into the new year, I am trying to keep everything in perspective.  I have an awareness of what's on the horizon, but I am not focused on it.  I am grateful for everything in my past that has brought me to this moment, but I am not dwelling on it.  There is so much to be thankful for and I am making an effort to focus on that.  My desire for this year is to be present in the moment and live life to its fullest.