Saturday, December 10, 2016

New Year, New You


More so than any other year, going into 2017 we are looking at what options have been available to us, and what options may (or may not) continue to be available to us. Here in the United States, we have just been through the election from hell for our next president. Never in my life have I seen this much push-back against a president-elect, and his proposed polices. And all of this push-back is well deserved. Part of who I am in the next year will be to do whatever I can do to block his policies. I have good reason for this - I am a senior citizen, and our president-elect intends to gut Social Security and Medicare. Amongst other policies that favor big business, and trashing the planet.

My focus needs to be on where I want to take myself withiin the next year, with an eye to what is supposed to be there, but might not be there. The first thing that I did was to move my health insurance from a secondary insurance to an HMO. At the least that will save me money. I am putting renewed focus on publishing my books, and earning a living from them. I am going to have my hip surgery done, whie it is still covered.

I am keeping an eye out so that I recognize opportunities as they come to me. My paying job is that of a Tarot reader on a phone line. I recently had a friend share a post on FB that listed four very important resource numbers - hotline numbers for those in crisis. I copied those numbers into a personal file, and shared them on my FB page. Individuals like me that deal with clients over the phone need to have a listing of these numbers to give out, in case there is a need. Over my career, there has been a need, I am updating my entire list, and will be sharing it with my phone line manager.

We need to remember that whatever is going on around us, how we react is up to us. Our world is changing, but we can make it whatever we want it to be. I have found that humor helps. Specifically, a new to me comedian by the name of Trevor Noah (The Daily Show) has helped me to see that I am not alone in how I see things. If I can laugh, some of the scary goes away.

As I move into 2017, here are some of the questions that I am asking myself:

1. What supported me in 2016?
2. What challanged me in 2016?
3. What do I need to release?
4. What do I need to bring forward into 2017?
5. What are my strengths?
6. What are my weaknesses?
7. What are my goals for 2017?
8. What actions can Itake to accomplish those goals?
9. Who am I?
10. Where am I headed?

(c) December 2016 Bonnie Cehovet
Reproduction prohibited without written consent of the author.

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