WhaHappen?

Holy moly – it’s almost 2009! I love celebrating the New Year because it means a fresh start to pursue those lingering dreams. If you’re looking back at 2008 and feeling regret about not reaching certain goals, even thinking to yourself, “WhaHappen?”, now’s your chance to start planning for 2009 to be the Best Year Ever!

OK – I’m going to be blunt – YOU’RE NOT GETTING ANY YOUNGER in age. This blog is about staying young at heart. Even more specifically, it’s about keeping the kid in you alive, so that you can still feel the newness of each day and squirm in anticipation of what’s ahead. Remember when your first priority used to be “What am I going to do for fun today?” Maybe you were going to win the title of Tetherball King at school, or learn skateboarding tricks with the kids down the street, or master boogie boarding at the beach.

Don’t let getting older (or feeling older) suppress the desire to do more, BE MORE. Yeah, we’re weighed down by annoying job issues and a persistently crappy economy. And we’re surrounded by way too many people who try to make us take everything in life too seriously.

But doesn’t that motivate The Rebel in you even more to do what you REALLY want to do? Be who you really want to be? What’s the point of living in coma-inducing drudgery? We work our asses off for fickle companies that, in the end (no pun intended), only care about themselves.

If we worked for our own dreams as hard as we work for other people, just think how much more rewarding that would be. Same sweat, different attitude, better (and more satisfying) outcome.

Don’t worry about how long it could take to make your vision come true. Just keep plugging away. Kids don’t keep track of time. When they’re working on something they like doing, the sun’s already gone down and they haven’t even noticed.

Let’s say you have a goal that might take 2 years to accomplish, so you think “Jeez, that’s kind of too long, maybe I shouldn’t bother.” Well, 2 years later is going to arrive no matter what. Will you still be in the same place of wishful thinking or will you have made 2 years’ progress into your goal? Don’t let time be your enemy. Don’t see it as a barrier. Use it to measure your accomplishments.

And I’m not trying to sound like someone who wakes up in the morning motivated. A couple of my Sunday posts earlier in this blog lets you know that I’m a secret slacker. I’m a closet sloth and The Original Napster. But at 42 and-a-half, I can’t afford to let my life just drift by passively, while I pay the bills, raise the kids, work until retirement, and then die a meaningless death — NO.

I’m going to find more enjoyable ways to earn money. I’m going to let the kids raise ME. And I refuse to labor for some rigid organization until I’m too rickety to enjoy my retirement. And when the lights finally go out for me, I’m going with a mischievous smile because I know I cheated. Adulthood for me is one huge Do-Over.

It’s never too late. Whatever your dream, Dream Big. It’s the New Year to put your plan into play.