New Year--Getting Another Chance.

That's what it's all about -- getting another chance. Thank God.

As of right now, there is about 5 hours left to 2011. It has been a great year, and I mean that. This is my moment, our moment, to reflect on the last year and the year to arrive in 5 hours.

For some people, this day can be a burden mainly because they choose to look back at all their failures. I believe it's important to look back at those failures; but look at them through a different lens, one that doesn't show every nook and crack in the last year of your life. That's not what this day is about. Today is the day --to remember both our triumphs and missteps, our promises made and broken. The times we opened ourselves up to great adventures or closed ourselves down for fear of getting hurt. Because that's what the new year is all about -- getting another chance. A chance to forgive, to do better, to do more, to give more, to love more. And stop worrying about 'what if' and start embracing 'what would be'.

We spend so much time caring about what other people think, the things we don't have, our looks, our disadvantages, our misfortunes...but we never realize how lucky we are, how blessed we are. The other night while I was driving around town, I kept turning my mind to the fact that I had spent way too much money on Christmas this year. Don't get me wrong, I was excited to share with my friends and family; but deep down I had this aching pain that made me upset at myself for spending so much or at least more than I should have. I've been throwing a lot of my paycheck directly into my savings so that I don't carelessly spend it, but the week before Christmas, I found myself moving more and more money out of my savings and into my checking account. As I was passing the Hope Rescue Mission downtown and saw all the homeless people sitting around waiting for the building to open up for their little meal, that's when it hit me; I don't know how many millions of people in the world would die to have the worst of my problems. I'm there worrying that I spent too much money and these people are worrying about surviving. It really put my life in perspective.

As much as this year is about second chances, it's also about taking chances. It's about getting out of our comfort zone. For so long, I looked at being successful as something that requires you to do anything, even if it means something you don't enjoy. Recently, my view on success has morphed into a true value. Everyone deserves to do what they love, and love what they do. I understand that a lot of people are forced to work a meaningless job in order to put food on the table for their family, but I pray that they get out of that rut and are able to love their jobs. I guess that's an example of where I'm blessed. For over three and a half years, I have been given the opportunity to love my job, and I have. I get to go to work everyday and enjoy the company of my coworkers and customers -I mean, who gets to do that?- but I've also learned not to take that for granted. That all said, I realized that I cannot settle. I know God has bigger and better things for me in the future. About two months ago, I realized that I don't want to be with Starbucks forever. In no way does this mean I'll be leaving soon, because I have a lot of other stuff to sort out. But I've fallen back in love with cooking. Originally, I was planning on going to culinary school, but being an immature 18 year old, I let some people scare me out of doing that. I let them make me afraid of the future before it had even arrived. And I had soon given up my hope and love for what I wanted to be. I'm still not completely sure what I'll be doing; but I trust God will connect the dots for me when the time comes.

"When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."

-Steve Jobs-

With this new year, I pray that I can forgive more, love more, share more, travel more, laugh more, become healthier, care less about the worthless, care more about the worthy, cook more, read more, try harder, be there more, pray more, worry less, trust more, and enjoy life more.

Over the last year, and not to sound too cliché, I've learned that everything happens for a reason. Sometimes you have to lose everything in order to gain it all. Relationships might be broken or damaged, but they might be healed and then made stronger. You might not understand why things have to happen, you just have to believe that God has a reason for it all. As Steve Jobs said, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

The time has come for me to end this year with a celebration with great friends; a celebration of our triumphs and struggles, and a celebration for the year to come. I hope you all have a fantastic time doing whatever you're doing, whether you're on your couch alone or with a million people in Times Square. Just remember to love yourself for who you are, but never settle for a mediocre life. God never created anything less than extraordinary. I'll leave you with this quote by Marianne Williamson...

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.