Six Steps to A Fresh New Year

Hard to believe, but it's almost time for another calendar. Twenty-fourteen...remember when 1984 had an ominous ring to it?

Well...it was pretty ominous, if only for the music that was popular that year. Could have been worse, though. Could have been disco.

All that aside, a New Year is a new page. It has the feeling of a fresh start, and while a lot of people - including me - tend to play it down, we really shouldn't. Playing it down is turning your back on an opportunity.

What's the best way to start a new year? Almost everyone has their own method - and unfortunately, many of those methods result in disappointment. Goals aren't reached, resolutions aren't kept, and the shine of the new takes on a quick tarnish.

So...here are some suggestions that I hope will help, and that I pray will keep the coming year shining, in some small way.

• Get a new calendar. Even if yours has an extra month or two...start with a fresh one.It's a visual reminder of newness, and doesn't drag all the notes and appointments and their associated memories into the coming year.
• Start the new year at work in a new outfit, or at least a couple of new accessories. 
• Don't make any resolutions. At All. Stay off that road to disappointment.
• Eat out somewhere you've never been...even if it's choosing a local hamburger place over the Golden Arches.
• Hang a picture of somewhere you've never been, but would love to visit. Don't make it a 'resolution' to get there this year. Just keep it as a hope for 'someday'.
• Clean the screens on your TV and computer.They are a window on the world.

Simpole things...almost trivial...but each of them will give you aquick feel-good glow, and taken together they'll help you get the coming year off to a bright, fresh, and positive start.