Happy New Year

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There are so many posts this week about the new year. Do you set goals, not set goals, set a new focus, refocus your efforts? What’s the best way to approach a new year? The other day on Facebook I asked what people’s resolutions would be. Only two responded, one saying they didn’t make resolutions and another person saying they felt every day was a day to refocus and set goals. I believe my favorite post so far this year comes from Don Miller, who is the author of “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.” I just got this book and have yet to read it, but stay tuned because I will write a review when I’ve done that. It is on my 2010 reading list for this month. Don’s blog post can be read at Don Miller’s Blog Page and I would suggest he’s a great one to follow. He speaks of writing our stories instead of resolutions or goals. I am at that place where 2010 will be the writing of a new story.

Last year was certainly a new story all in itself with my wedding in June, something I never believed I would ever do again. And yet, I am blessed with a wonderful husband. It was indeed the beginning of a wonderful new story in my life. At the same time, 2009 brought to an end one of the stories in my life of working with some good people to build a great company. Those eight years were a great story, full of all of the things you want to see in a story–compelling characters, triumph, challenges, disappointments, trials, and successes. It was a story with an international flare, an opportunity to make new friends in a country I had never been to, and create relationships there that continue even though I don’t live there anymore. Those relationships will no doubt be a part of future stories, although in a different way. While the story didn’t end like I would have written the ending, it has ended nonetheless and this year brings a new story.

What will the new story be?

Giving to others: I’ve been able to spend some time with family in the last month and we had an interesting talk this week about the story of our family. My niece has a plaque in her house that says “If you always give, you will always have.” I love that saying. It is so true of who she is, and it is actually true of who my family is. It has never mattered what any of us has, we have always managed to share it. It’s pretty amazing how God blesses that in our lives. I am blessed to have married a man who fits into this way of thinking perfectly. This week I invited a friend who was having a bit of bad luck to come stay with us. When I hung up the phone, I had one of those “newlywed aha moments” where I remembered I now have a husband and perhaps I should have consulted with him first. When I apologized, he said “I would have asked her to come also, you should always give to people, it’s who we are.” He went on to talk about how giving brings back blessings to our lives.

There is a new website coming out in about a week for medical transcriptionists. MT Tools Online will be a place where medical transcriptionists came come for networking and continuing education. It is a collaborative effort and the hope is that many will participate and contribute. It is a way for me to create something to give back to the industry that has been very good to me.

The new story will also be about creating a new future. I am fascinated by the social media world and have learned so much about it in the last few months. While I know I still have much to learn, I am finding opportunities to take what I have learned and share it with others. Hopefully that will help them along the way.

Life for me is about how to handle the “half time” part of life. It is about how I can create a story that makes a difference, and do it with integrity. That will be the focus of 2010–does this really make a difference somewhere? It is the guide star for the new year and the plot of this new story.

What about you? What story will you create for your life in 2010?