Happy 2009!

First, let me wish everyone reading my blog a happy, healthy and prosperous (despite the economy) 2009. It’s a new day, a new year and lots of new opportunities await us.

I’m feeling a little better today. While I’m far from being in the pink of condition, I am more functional today then yesterday. That’s a positive. I still spent most of the day in the room, again. The temperature outside dropped markedly and I guess it’s a precursor to heading back north to the northern Virginia area where they’ve had a bit of a cold snap with high winds.

Between last night and today, I’ve resolved several issues for the upcoming year. I’ve tied some ribbons on my past life - BD (Before Down-sizing) and am focusing on 2009. I don’t believe in “resolutions.” They’ve never worked for me. I know I have both a self-discipline problem and a procrastination problem to overcome and that’s high on my agenda. There are a number of issues from the past that need to be resolved and buried forever. Those are high on my agenda, too.

But, having plans, goals and objectives going into the future work much better for me then making resolutions. So, that’s the course I’m taking. I could make a list as long as my arm for what I want to accomplish in the next 12 months. However, I know that it would be impossible to accomplish all of them - that bogs me down and I don’t get very much of anything accomplished. So, I’m honing the list down to accomplish a few very important goals and objectives this year.

A new year always begins with great promise and all kinds of opportunities. That’s what I see as I look at 2009. We begin this year with two wars continuing, our economy and the global economy in deep recession, people losing jobs by the hundreds of thousands, businesses large and small going into bankruptcy, gas prices at very low prices after reaching the highest prices in history, trillions of dollars of wealth wiped out of millions of retirement accounts, houses by the thousands going into foreclosure, housing prices still falling, credit tightening - despite hundreds of millions of taxpayers dollars being pumped into the system to save it, investment fraud running rampant and greed at an all time high. This does not paint a pretty picture. But, we can read and absorb and live in the gloom and doom or we can heed the timeless words of Napoleon Hill, who said, “Within every adversity is an equal or greater opportunity.” Robert Collier put it this way, “In every adversity there lies the seed of an equivalent advantage. In every defeat is a lesson showing you how to win the victory next time.” Og Mandino phrased it in this manner, "Always seek out the seed of triumph in every adversity." In my own words, I simply suggest that . . . If all you see is the negative in life, then that’s what you’ll get, but if you look for the positive, that’s what you’ll find.

This is going to be my greatest year ever. I’ve made major decisions, cut the bonds that I fashioned my own prison from and now I’m “FREE!” Living and working free is a way of life for me, not just a dream as it was for years. It took tough decisions, difficult actions and there are consequences, but I see nothing but positive as I move down my new path. I hope I can inspire you to make the decisions, take that actions and do whatever it will take to create the life of living and working free that you want. There is no better time then the present. Have a great 2009.

Enthusiastically,
Ed Helvey