It’s that time of year…..the end and the beginning. Funny, isn’t it? Each year we celebrate the New Year arriving, while we say goodbye to the year that’s just passed, and then we move on like it’s all simply another day. In many ways the last day of the year and the first day of the year are just like other days; but they also provide us a unique opportunity to stop and think for a minute. How was the past year for you? Did you make positive changes in your life that you’d like to continue to build on? Maybe you struggled in some way and want to improve that area of your life. Whatever the case is for you, the important thing is to take some time as the year comes to a close and the New Year is upon us, and reflect. Reflect on where you are, where you want to be, and how to get there. The course you want to chart could be related to health and fitness, your job, personal life, or something completely different. It doesn’t matter what it’s about. It just matters that we stop and make the time to take stock. I know that I don’t do that nearly often enough. Always caught up in work, house, kids and their endless pickups and drop offs, and on and on it goes. On the occasions that I DO stop to think about where I am and where I’m going, as it relates to all aspects of my life, I tend to realize the same thing over and over. What do I realize you may wonder? How lucky I am. Sure I have things that I want to work on…..keeping the Tupperware cabinet and front hall closet organized in spite of living with 3 kids that don’t share my vision, working out regularly, getting more sleep, purging some of the 700 water bottles in my house, continuing to build upon my career successes and learning from any missteps in my life, and the list goes on. With all of that though, the overwhelming theme I find in self-reflection is that I should always be grateful. I have a husband who’s my best friend (Yes yes we drive each other crazy sometimes! You’re not alone!), I have 3 amazing, smart, loving, beautiful kids (Who are also crazy, moody, messy, and everything that your kids are!), I have a job I love, and I am surrounded by family and friends that I adore. I’m lucky. Sure there are days that I’m not feeling quite so grateful, but in this New Year I’m going to try to stop and remind myself a little more often just how fortunate I am. I hope as 2017 comes to an end you’ll take time to do the same. We all have shortcomings, bad days, and things we want to improve. But no matter how much we have in those categories, we also all have beautiful and amazing things to be grateful for. Wishing you all a spectacular finish to 2017 and start to 2018!

Xo Liza