I'd like to begin by sharing some of my own personal reflections at this time of year.
It was exactly 33 years ago today (also on a Monday) that my father died of a sudden heart attack. He was only 57 years old. Ever since that time, I've found this time of year to be one of extremely mixed emotions. I suspect that my experience is similar to that of many others in finding this to be a time of both great joy (especially surrounding my grandchildren)—and a time of a sense of loss (for those loved family members who are no longer here to share this season with us).

But in addition to the perhaps inevitable focus on the past and whatever losses we may be feeling, it's important to also focus on the present and the future—which requires getting more clarity about where we are in life and where we're going. While we don't have full control over the course of our lives, we have far more control than we usually exercise. Much of this is because vague thoughts/hopes/dreams float around in our heads, but we never get enough clarity or organized thinking about them to take the actions necessary to move toward those goals.

I'm a great believer in "living in the moment." (By that I do not mean "living FOR the moment, but living with awareness and mindfulness of what's happening at this moment in time.) This focus will help you be more mindful of your own life in terms of how you're living each day—as well as the degree to which you are "Living Your Life by Choice Instead of Chance" (which is the subtitle of a Workbook James and I wrote about 35 years ago when we first began doing "life-planning").

For several years, I've had some material on my website that relates to this whole issue of what I've called "life-planning." To find the list of articles, see:
Articles about Life-planning.

As you can see on the above page, we have a "sister-site," which James manages, that is dedicated to our life-planning work: LifeDesign101.com
(I do hope you will spend some time on this site to learn more about LifeDesign.)

I especially encourage you to read (and watch) the beautiful series of slide shows James has posted on the site, which he calls "Reflections." He wrote all the words and took all the photographs used to illustrate the writing. You'll find the link to the "Weekly Reflection" at the top of the page in the middle, as well as a link to "Reflection Archives" at the top on the left side of the page.

My wish for each of you is that you find personal peace in the New Year and that you take charge of your life to the greatest degree possible, knowing that you can do more than you might think to change the course of your life if you take time to thoughtfully reflect on the past—and to actively work toward a better future.