I was driving to work recently and thinking that I had a pretty full day ahead.  It was a cold, frosty morning on Old Baptist Road and I had my coffee and breakfast with me in the car.  I wasn’t speeding but my urgency to get to work was definitely heightened.  After all, it is vacation week and my kids would be home and of course, I wanted to be with them as opposed to working.  About halfway to work, I spotted a squirrel crossing the road in front of me.  I paused, braked and allowed the squirrel to get to its destination on the other side.  A pause that allowed me to take a moment and value another living being’s life.  It was a very small but significant good deed I did.

A short time later, I came upon a traffic light and a very politically driven vehicle with some rather expressive bumper stickers.  This vehicle’s owner was not a big fan of politicians, based on the graphic wording on the stickers.  I have a fairly good idea who this person voted for based on some choice wording.  In addition to the political stickers, the car was adorned with stickers relating to hunting or guns or gun control laws. And the topper was a bumper sticker that read and I will never forget this, “If it is Brown, it’s goin’ down.  If it Flies, it dies.”  Depicted on the sticker were a deer and a duck, of which the sticker (I assume) were referring to.  I thought back for a moment about my encounter with the squirrel on Old Baptist Road.

And that got me thinking about what I could do, myself, in 2017.  The reality is I paused to let a squirrel pass the road, but others may not have.  I stopped and thought that the life of another living thing was important, while others may take a far different approach.  And so to expand on that thought, I need to continue to pause in my business life or personal life to allow something a positive moment to happen.  And understand and acknowledge and live with the fact that others may not.  But ultimately, be comfortable with my personal choice to make a positive difference.  My resolution for 2017 is this – How can I make a positive difference in my life happen every day?  And to be strong and energetic about choices and decisions I have made.  And to build on those positive changes. And encourage others to make positive choices that affect other living beings – namely their friends, family, co-workers, neighbors.  If everyone would pause once in their day, just once, to make a positive change in someone’s life – whether it be theirs or another beings – that is a start.

Happy New Year everyone.  Take a pause everyday and be thankful for what you have.  Everyone is busy so we can throw that excuse over the side of the boat.  Make a positive difference in your life and see how that good energy spreads.  May it be the best year of your life.

MUSINGS