Because when we stop and look, we see just how far we’ve come

Lisa Pickering
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Key Largo – November 2016

In the past couple of weeks people have been talking a lot about how happy they are that 2016 is over, what a terrible year it was. I am not going to deny that tragic events didn’t happen in 2016. And some of these people suffered loss or were dealing with illness. It’s not my place to tell them that 2016 wasn’t a terrible year for them, but it did make me think.

Hearing this repeatedly started me thinking about what my thoughts were on the past year. I thought about things that happened in the world, but most of my memories were of what happened to me, my family and my friends.

While there were definitely some negative aspects to the year, I have to say that 2016 was pretty incredible. When I analyzed this (because I analyze, or over-analyze everything) I realized that I put the most weight on things that I control. This past year I put more effort into making my life full and amazing than I have in any previous year.

Great things happened this year, because I made them happen. I pushed to fulfill adventures that were out of my comfort zone because I knew the outcome would be worth it. Amazing years don’t happen by doing the same thing as the previous year.

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As the new year starts there is now a lot of talk about “2017 is going to be amazing” and “This is going to be best year yet” and I truly hope that this is true for everyone. But unless everyone plays an active role in their life and doesn’t just let it happen, I fear that in December I am going to hear “I can’t wait until 2017 is over, it’s been a terrible year”. Bad events are going to happen every year, most of them we have no control over. So again in 2017 I am going to do what I need to do, to make MY life and year amazing.

Before setting goals for 2017, I looked back and documented all that I had accomplished in the past year. Wow… it was a pretty cool exercise!

14 thoughts on “Because when we stop and look, we see just how far we’ve come”

  1. Love this, Lisa! It WAS a great year, wasn’t it? You’ve achieved so much, and you are an inspiration because you MAKE IT HAPPEN 🙂 See you soon!

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  2. Good comments Lisa! It is all about being intentional in getting the life you want rather than settle for what happens by whatever! In my circle, I observe that it tends to be the same people that have good years over good years consistently. They get their fair share of challenges but overall they maintain a can do attitude and hold themselves accountable for their life. Those are the type of people I like to hang out with. Happy New Year!

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  3. Awesome Lisa! You’ve heard it said by Ed many times; “your feelings follow your focus!” If you don’t like how you are feeling, change what you are focusing on! You did a great job of focusing on the positive of 2016 while recognizing that negative things did occur. In any case, God is in the business of making beauty from ashes so whatever happened in 2016, 2017 CAN be the best year ever if people choose for it to be. Thanks for sharing your insights and your heart. Don’t ever stop!

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  6. Great message and glad to hear your 2016 was a good one. Your blogs and your courage have been a bright spot and helped me to have a better year than I would have had otherwise. Well done and all the best in 2017.

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  7. A New Year, Tia, can be a new chapter, a new verse or just the same story!
    Ultimately, we write it. The choice is ours.
    You cannot have a positive life and a negative mind.

    I can’t wait to see what 2017 is going to bring to all of us.
    Thank you for Inspiring us to live life to the fullest. xo

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