Next Up: 2012!

I've tried a few times to write about next year. It just doesn't seem to be working. I have a lot of great things planned with some wonderful people, but blogging about it feels more like typing an agenda than sharing my life so I think I have been going about it all wrong.

There are many mornings when I jump into the car and head off to work, and I love being alive. Recently the journey has been a dark canvas painted with multicolored Christmas lights. Some days it is a beautiful sunrise with a colorful sky and white, fluffy clouds.  Yet other days, it has been pouring rain. The other morning I was driving in what I like to call a nice Irish rain (steady, soft, without lightning), I couldn't help but think it was a very nice rain for a run. I'm usually listening to K-Love, and if you were to look over as you pass, you would most likely see me singing. I really enjoy my drive into work. Of course, I still have a few of those days where I don't feel too great or people are driving like wild banshees.  I consider those days to be homework days, and I work on trying to be more thankful. 

The truth is that whether or not the upcoming year looks promising or difficult, this moment is what counts. If I am able to continually find joy in this moment, my year will be great. It really doesn't matter where I go or what I accomplish. I'm still a big fan of setting goals. I feel that if I pick a positive direction, at least I will be heading in that direction whether or not I decide to change course or life changes that course for me. It sure beats flopping around directionless. 

In the past week, I've begun training for a March 50K. I'm still a little worried about my foot, but it seems to be getting better. Last weekend was a 10 mile day followed by a 13 mile day, and my foot is feeling good. My legs, on the other hand, are crying a little, but muscle soreness beats a swollen foot any day of the week.  It's also been 3 months since I put down the sugar "crutch" so I think I'll keep skipping it. I've found that I enjoy other foods with good flavor a lot more these days. It seems like a diet high in sugar dulls the brain to taste and puts the focus on the sugar high obtained. Saying no to sugar still feels pretty empowering, and I no longer feel that something has to be sugary to be a treat.  My biggest and most important goal this year has to be accomplished moment to moment, requires focus, and offers things I cannot really put into words.

Philippians 3: 12-14
I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.

Whatever your goals, resolutions or plans are for 2012, I hope you have a great moment, day, and year!

Charlie says Happy New Year!