I decided to get rid of all of the junk food in the house

to begin my New Year’s Resolution of going on a diet

and. . .

and it was  D E L I C I O U S !

Have you made your New Year’s Resolutions yet?

I only have One Resolution:

T O     G I V E     U P     R E S O L U T I O N S

Is it any wonder why?

The Top 10 Resolutions are:

Stay Fit

Lose Weight

Enjoy Life to It’s Fullest

Spend Less, Save More

Spend More Time with Family and Friends

Get Organized

Learn Something New

Travel More

Read More

REFUSE TO MAKE ANY RESOLUTIONS

There are about 38% of us WHO WON’T BE MAKING RESOLUTIONS

and the other 62% will find only a

W          H          O          P          P          I          N          G

8%

who will keep their  RESOLUTIONS. . .

Do I hear an   O U C H ?

Mike Yaconelli’s, THE LITTLE BOY WHO WANTED TO FIGHT FIRES has always been one of my favorites, especially this time of the year.  Mike died a few New Year’s Eve’s back

Allow me to share it as I remember it:

ONCE THERE WAS A LITTLE BOY WHO, EVER SINCE HE COULD REMEMBER, WANTED TO BE A FIREMAN. THE SHRILL OF THE SIREN AND THE DEEP RUMBLE OF THE RACING FIRE-TRUCK HAD FILLED HIS DREAMS ALMOST EVERY NIGHT. DEEP IN HIS HEART THERE WAS A LONGING TO SOMEDAY BE ABLE TO HELP PEOPLE; TO SAVE PEOPLE FROM THE RAVAGING GRASP OF A FIRE. IT WAS NOT JUST A CHILDHOOD FANTASY. HIS WAS THE UNMISTAKABLE CALL OF DESTINY.

GROWING UP NEVER CHANGED HIS MIND. TO BE SURE, HE HAD GONE THROUGH ALL THE INDECISION AND DOUBTS OF ADOLESCENCE, THE WELL-MEANING QUESTIONS OF FRIENDS AND FAMILY WHO ‘WONDERED WHETHER HE COULD BE HAPPY AS A FIREMAN.’ HE WAS TO PUT OUT FIRES.

OH, HOW HE LONGED FOR THE DAY WHEN HE WOULD NO LONGER BE A SPECTATOR, BUT COULD PARTICIPATE ACTIVELY AS A FIRE-FIGHTER. NOW, ALL HE COULD DO WAS WATCH.

THEN THE BIG DAY ARRIVED. HE WAS ACCEPTED AT ONE OF THE BEST FIREMAN SCHOOLS IN THE COUNTRY. FOR THREE YEARS HE IMMERSED HIMSELF IN HIS SCHOOLING. HE SPENT HOURS HONING HIS SKILLS ON PRACTICE FIRES. HE STUDIED FIRE-FIGHTING THEORY LONG INTO THE NIGHTS. HIS TEACHERS WERE WORLD-RENOWNED.

BUT STILL AFTER ALL THESE YEARS HE HAD NEVER FOUGHT A REAL FIRE. AS GRADUATION APPROACHED, HE REALIZED THAT LONG-AWAITED MOMENT WAS WITHIN HIS REACH.

BUT SUDDENLY HE BEGAIN TO HAVE DOUBTS. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HIS LIFE HE WAS UNSURE, AFRAID, AND WORSE YET, QUESTIONING WHETHER HE OUGHT TO BE A FIREMAN AT ALL.

IT WAS THEN THAT ONE OF HIS PROFESSORS SUGGESTED HE TRAVEL TO EUROPE AND STUDY UNDER ONE OF THE GREATEST FIREMAN THEORISTS OF ALL TIME. HE WOULD BE RECOMMENDED BY HIS PROFESSORS AND WOULD RECEIVE THE FINEST TRAINING AVAILABLE. IT WOULD LAST FOR TWO YEARS.

THE NOT-SO-LITTLE BOY DECIDED TO GO TO EUROPE, AND FOR TWO YEARS HE EXHAUSTED HIMSELF IN DEDICATED STUDY AND BECAME ON OF THE MOST BRILLIANTLY EDUCATED FIREMEN IN THE WORLD. BUT ALL HE HAD EVER DONE WAS PUT OUT PRACTICE FIRES. ONCE AGAIN, GRADUATION LOOMED BEFORE HIM. AND, ONCE AGAIN, HE WAS HAUNTED BY INDECISION. HE KNEW ALL ABOUT FIRES AND COULD TELL ANYONE HOW TO FIGHT ONE; IN FACT, HE KNEW SO MUCH HE BEGAIN TO FEEL THAT HIS SUPERIOR KNOWLEDGE DID, IN FACT, PLACE HIM A NOTCH ABOVE ‘ORDINARY’ FIREMEN. HE BECAME INCREASINGLY CONCERNED THAT HE MIGHT HAVE TO FIGHT FIRES WITH ‘UNEDUCATED’ FIREMEN, WHICH COULD RESULT IN HIM BEING EXPOSED TO UNNECESSARY DANGER.

IT WAS THEN THAT HE WAS OFERED A POSITION TO TACH AT ONE OF THE MOST RESPECTED FIREMEN SCHOOLS IN THE COUNTRY.

HE ACCEPTED. AND FOR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS HE TAUGHT WITH HONORS AND RECEIVED RECOGNITION WORLDWIDE. HE DIED LAST YEAR, AND WHEN THEY READ HIS MEMOIRS, THEY CAME ACROSS A STRANGE PASSAGE WRITTEN WHILE ON HIS DEATHBED:

“I LIE HERE TODAY REVIEWING MY LIFE. I STILL REMEMBER MY DREAM, MY PASSION TO BE A FIREMAN. MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE I WANTED TO PUT OUT FIRES…BUT I REALIZED SOMETHING TODAY.

I HAVE NEVER PUT OUT A REAL FIRE. N E V E R!”

What.         .          .

what in our lives–yours and mine–

are we spending our time studying i

n order to avoid

D  O  I  N  G ?

Seriously.        .        .just what Day is exactly  NOT  a New Year?

A New Beginning?

A Do-Over?

NO!

No more Resolutions!

No more, “I SHOULD’S”

No more, “I COULD’S”

No more, “I WOULD’S”

DISSOLVE Resolve-  -this Day

.          .        .this Year.

Merely.        .        .Actually.        .        .

W   H   O   L   E   H   E   A   R   T   E   D   L   Y

become   Absolutely   Y O U!

You were. . .

You are. . .

You will Always be unfolding

to Become more completely YOU!

(and less than Anyone else).

Dissolve to Resolve.        .        .

IT  will  guarantee  you  a  New  Year  any  day  of  the  Year!

Be the Firemen WHO fights Fires.        .        .

watch the Flames lift you and eliminate all of the smoke from being in your eyes;

and Seeing.        .        .

S E E I N G    clearer,

others will see more clearly,  too.

B E

Happy New Year’s.      .      .

Happy New DAY.      .      .

Happy New YOU!

Possessssssssst  of  the  Day:

It’s   the   only   Resolution   you’ll    never    make

that absolutely won’t fail to

to     s  u  c  c  e  e  d!