2011 was the year of the edit for me, a time to focus on the things that needed more attention and to spend more time with the people that mean the world to me. I also felt this year to be a little disjointed. Things felt kind of out of place, there was a lot of changes in my personal and work life that I couldn’t control but even when life causes some unexpected weather patterns during my flight, I ultimately am the one behind the controls. At the end of every year, we all feel the need to re-assess our lives, start fresh, re-think our goals and we all of a sudden feel the need for enlightenment. Well, this is where I’ll start my little list of new life lessons learned this year and I hope it will spark something in you:

1. Anytime is a good time: There is no “right time” and who says just because the clock turns to midnight everything is going to be ok the next day?  We are all conditioned from a very young age to act a certain way or to do certain things on specific days…Christmas, Valentines Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, Family Day, Secretary Day, Halloween, New Years…Know this, today is as good as any other day so don’t wait to tell that special person that you miss them, don’t wait to spend more time with loved ones, don’t wait to tell your co-workers that you appreciate them. Who cares what others think? If you want to dress up in costume in February go for it, no need to wait for Halloween to come around. You want to do something special for someone you care about, don’t need to wait until Valentines Day. You want to gather good friends for a good meal and conversation, don’t need to wait for Thanksgiving or Christmas either. You want to make a change of direction in your life? You don’t have to wait for the clock to strike midnight or a new year to do so.

2. Buying things won’t bring you happiness and it sure doesn’t buy you more time: I banked up a lot of debt as a young girl as I equated owning a lot of “stuff” to happiness and I thought that the stuff I owned would impress people. Now being responsible for my own well being as an adult, I’ve come to realize more and more living with less is more freeing. Don’t get me wrong, I still occasionally make those regretful impulse purchases but it’s about being more cogniscent of why I am making the purchase and making sure that I am not trying to impress anyone but myself. I saw this post on Tumblr and it really puts things into perspective. Start thinking about money in the form of time. You have $86,400 in your bank account versus 86,400 seconds in a day. What are you going to do with it? I know what I would do: I want to live a comfortable life, but not a wasteful one.

3.  It’s ok to slow it down, your own pace is the only lane you should be focused on: I have had several moments watching everyone around me accelerate their lives in front me with new jobs, starting new businesses, experiencing new loves, having babies, buying homes, getting engaged and getting married. Trust me when I say that my patience has been tested yet again this year, as I experience others around me go “further” in life at a faster pace. “Have faith” I would say to myself that everything that I’ve ever dreamed of will come my way as long as I stick to my steady path at my own pace. Patience always wins the life race at the end of the day (even though at the moment it doesn’t feel like it). I have watched too many people chase the fast lane in love, life and career…only to watch it crumble in front of them months later. Life will go on regardless of which lane you decide to take, so make sure you remember to give yourself some pauses. The best cheese and wine in the world take time and so does your best self.

4. Start Listening: I’ve stopped giving advice to people, unless they ask for it and even then I do it reluctantly. I have found that people hardly take any of the advice I give them (and this goes for me as well), because all we want is to be heard and to be supported with some positive reinforcement. People will do whatever their hearts desire at the time and there is nothing you can say to change their minds. You would never want someone else to make your choices for you, so don’t impose them on someone else. We all have moments where we go through life blind and somehow we stumble our way around it just fine. So if you want to be a good friend, just be sure to be available to listen and lend your support when it’s needed.

5. Just be you and show up for yourself: We all tend to live the life others want us to live and in doing so we attract all the wrong things. When you are trying or wanting to be someone else you are wasting the person you are. “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” ~ Dr. Seuss. I idolize two characters from my childhood, Dr. Seuss and Winnie-the-Pooh, not high powered CEO’s and wealthy business owners. Dr. Seuss and Winnie the Pooh just get life and they and get their message across simply and they never apologized for who they are. Don’t compare yourself and compete with others, be inspired and motivated by them and compete only with yourself.  The most important thing is that you show up for your self every day and when you do that at the truest core of yourself, the right things will come your way. (Did I just make a rhyme?)

I wish you all the very best in 2012, be inspired, be the pilot, be you, and of course stay stylish and classy. To those that have always loved me for “me” and that have always cared enough to ask how I’m doing and that have always made time for me: A BIG THANK YOU and I am grateful to have you all in my life. Here’s to another “bang on” year!

xo

Sunny