I guess I'm on a role with this whole theme of changing habits and keeping New Year resolutions because I find myself once again writing about them.   Tonight it’s time to recognize a baby step, a little itty bitty “win”.  Two weeks ago I took the time to set some personal and business financial goals for the year – something I’ve never, ever done in my life.  It felt good to have my goals, and the steps I needed to take to realize them, written down and taped to my computer monitor.  But just this past week I’d already set my sights on buying a horse – which I can’t afford to do, but had convinced myself that I could, and in one brief instant completely forgot about my goals.  For three days I agonized over how I could make it happen, what steps I could take to generate the extra income, and what I could sell to have cash in hand ASAP.  When I say that I agonized over it, I truly did.  It has been a stressful three days. 

 This morning I talked with Zen about my thoughts, my desires, my silly plans, and thankfully he was the voice of reason that brought me back.  He knows how badly I want this and how hard I’ve been working to make it happen, but he also knows that I’ve set goals for myself and that to buy a horse means completely throwing those goals out the window.  He has a way of speaking to my soul.  A way of making me listen even when I don’t want to.  A way of helping me relax and think straight.  I’m not certain why he can do all this….nobody in my life has been able to….but he can.  I walked away from our short conversation knowing that my goals for 2008 don’t include buying a horse, and I was really ok with that once I reminded myself of it.  And in that instant all of the stress and agony that had attached themselves to me over the last three days just melted away.  I realized that it felt good to be relaxed, to know what I wanted and needed to do, and to know that my goals were achievable, valuable, and would provide me with the ability to buy a horse NEXT year.  The relief I felt was so overwhelming that I decided to remind myself every morning from here on out that what I want is inner peace, not stress.  If I can keep that in mind and plan my days and activities accordingly I should achieve this year’s goals.

My New Morning Mantra:

What do I want?  Inner peace. 

How will I achieve that right now?  By staying focused on my goals and the steps that I’ve outlined to achieve them. 

What will this give me?  A complete sense of control over my situation, immense satisfaction, and the ability to move on with something new once I succeed. 

Will this provide me with the inner peace that I’m seeking?  YES!