Hey Everyone!

Happy New Year! I hope each and every one of you had a great holiday, and a safe new year. My holiday was a little less restful, as there was a death in the family that took me to south Florida just days before the holiday. Then, as is often the case when a long holiday week presents itself to me, I caught the flu! :-(

While nursing my flu, I had a lot of time to think about priorities. And resolutions. It's the time of year for those, and I've always felt that setting New Year's Resolutions right after such an enormously busy time (either physically or emotionally, or both) is a bad plan. One year, a group of friends and I had "New Year's" in February, and we lit candles while stating our intentions for that year. That delay from the holidays until February gave me lots more "lick and chew" time than usual, and it just so happens that's the year Horse Sense was incorporated!

This year, I heard of another wonderful option instead of new year's resolutions. Although I'd read in lots of places the idea of "theme-ing" your upcoming year, I was even more impressed when someone suggested having a phrase or a slogan for the new year. I immediately knew my phrase would be the Serenity Prayer.

Grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change
The courage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know the difference

I've always felt comforted by the wisdom in the words, and the fact that it's not a quick, cheap answer to either the simple questions or to life's most difficult problems. When in doubt, I go back to the beginning. And for me the beginning is in the Serenity Prayer.

So let's hear it. What's your phrase or quote?

Wishing you all the best in this new year, and with gratitude for you in my life,

Shannon