I turn over, pulling the white down comforter over me as the sunlight begins to inch its way under the shades that conceal a view of Boston. Sitting up after a few restless attempts to tug at my eyelids and fall asleep once again, I yawn and glance around the hotel room.
A smile tickles my lips. The possibilities are endless I think to myself. Endless.

Now I do not awake like Sleeping Beauty amidst a pile of goose down pillows every morning but 2010 saw it fit to have a birthday party that included a hotel stay and a night out with the girls in Boston.

2010, let me just tell ya, you are looking mighty fine. Is anyone else feeling this  way? A brand new year to fill with whatever we like. Resolution rebels or those rebelling against resolutions, no matter who you are, you officially have an empty calendar waiting to be filled with your hearts’ desires.

The catch is, no one can automatically be granted these next 365 days on the spot. We all know that each day we get is a gift, not a right. But will you choose to treat each one as such? If each day is a gift then why don’t we treat them with the same care that we do our new computers that we got for Christmas or that IPhone that we found under the tree?

If I choose to have one mentality in this new year, it will be the mentality that every single day is precious and new, begging for my attention.

Let’s treat each day, be it January 2 or May 25, as if it is a child- one that wants to be adored and loved.  Let’s fill the days with laughter and smiles, time well spent with those we care about. Let’s fill the weeks  with our deepest passions, the books we have wanted to read, indulgences that tickle our fancy, traveling- doing what we personally want to do. Let’s fill these next twelve months to the brim with good conversation, soul-searching, helping those around us, uncovering or refining a purpose.

I thought this morning, while making the trip back home from Boston, that I will be pretty lucky if last night is any indication of how 2010 will play out. If

it is, then 2010 will have a healthy portion of laughter that makes my stomach hurt, craziness just for the sake of being crazy, spontaneity: all uses of the noun, a carefree attitude, and fun: a word often approached as foreign.

But then I realized… it is up to me to make my year this way.

We need to purposely set ourselves up for the year that we want to have. Of course setbacks are bound to approach and things will get in the way. But if we set ourselves up to make the most out of the next 12 months, strung perfectly side by side, then who can stop us? If we begin this journey with intent as our compass and our hearts as our road maps than we will ultimately find the place that we are called to be in this year. We will find ourselves in the middle of dialogues that we are meant to exchange, tangled in encounters that we are meant to delight in and amidst events that we are meant to serve our purpose at. We have lots to do. Lots.

2010 has a smirk the size of Boston and I know it has plans, Big Plans, for each of us.

Happy New Year’s to you and yours!