Staying Positive in the Year Ahead

© Krasimira Nevenova - Fotolia

A few years ago my wife, Sheila, got me into some writers who normally I would never have followed. It's typically a short read to feed my brain at the start of each day. Dealing with a few family challenges at the time, Melody Beattie became a favorite. Her spirituality and message towards staying positive was the perfect combination to work in with some of my favorite contemporary writers like Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki, Scott Stratten and even some good old Tom Peters, for example.

I want to share her message from December 31, because it hit home for me and might for many of you. I'm hoping it'll do the same for you. I hope you'll read it and if her touch on spirituality and God bothers you, just move on. We don't all have to agree on everything. Just take whatever resonates with you. 

We all spend so much time anticipating the negative. In business especially, when you don't hear back from somebody quickly, you assume the negative. Leaving a message in any company's customer service department probably means you're lost in the system. Over and over again we draw negative assumptions, when lately I'm learning they're often unfounded...at least with any company except Comcast! (Hey, it might be a new year, but my resentment for what they call "service" runs deep!)

I hope this excerpt from Melody Beattie does as much for you as it did for me...it's a new year and we've all got a chance to really make a difference - not just in other people's lives, but in our own!

Affirming the Good

"Fun becomes fun, love becomes love, life becomes worth living. And we become grateful.  - Beyond Codependency

Wait, and expect good things - for yourself and your loved ones.

When you wonder what is coming, tell yourself the best is coming, the very best life and love have to offer, the best God and His universe have to send. Then open your hands to receive it. Claim it, and it is yours.

See the best in your mind; envision what it will look like, what it will feel like. Focus, until you can see it clearly. Let your whole being, body and soul, enter into and hold onto the image for a moment.

Then, let it go. Come back into today, the present moment. Do not obsess. Do not become fearful. Become excited. Live today fully, expressing gratitude for all you have been, all you are, and all you will become.

Wait and expect good things.

Today, when I think about the year ahead, I will focus on the good that is coming."*

*The Language of Letting Go" by Melody Beattie, page 379 for December 31.