What are you going to do with the New Year? Are you going to start something new? Or just muck along the same well-trodden path? Few of us, I think, can say we are satisfied with where we are. Why should we be? If we were, where could we possibly go from here?
Red mangrove seedlings reach for the sky in their quest for survival.
The two red mangrove seedlings above are just beginning their lives at Fort Desoto Park. They are already born under a lucky star–protected by the state. They are starting out new and fresh, reaching for the sky, giving it all they’ve got. But, they have no idea what may come their way.
I started anew in 2005.
July 15, 2005 I walked away from my job at an accounting firm where I’d worked for 9 years. Like the mangrove seedlings, I had no idea what was in store for me. Nor did it matter much. Sure, I had a plan, but like most plans, mine didn’t work out quite the way I expected.
I thought I’d make a living selling my book about Florida Beaches. As it turned out, books are a lot harder to sell than I thought. As my savings account dwindled to zero and I pulled out my credit card, I realized I needed “plan B.”
So I taught salsa dance lessons, swing dance lessons, Argentine tango dance lessons, wedding dance lessons. I prepared tax returns for friends and acquaintances. Somehow work appeared when I needed it. I used every skill I had to provide service to someone.
I had a lot of time to study the internet, search engine optimization, blogging, creating web content. My photography improved. I read. A lot.
I joined a tax discussion forum on the internet and began contributing my specialized knowledge of tax exempt organizations. The phone started ringing. Work started to appear. Good work. Work that made me happy.
I got a lucky break and became a paid blogger for VISITFLORIDA.com. Someone at Miles Media saw my website on Florida beaches and thought I might like to serve as their beach expert. That was a year and a half ago and I’ve learned a lot.
I’m not getting rich (at least not in terms of money, yet) but I spend most every day doing what I want to do. Not what someone else tells me I have to do. And let me tell you, that is HUGE!
None of this could have happened if I hadn’t been willing to start something new. I think deep down inside all of us is that desire to break new ground. To start fresh. To forge a trail into the unknown.
I work more hours now than I ever did at the accounting firm, but guess what? It doesn’t feel like work. It’s fun! Well…not always fun, but it is satisfying. And there’s something new every day.
Here I am at the cusp of the New Year planning my new ventures for 2009. And boy, is it exciting! I can’t wait.
What do you have planned for your life in 2009? Starting anything new? Learning a new skill? Taking a new path?
Earl Nightingale wrote something in a book called “The Strangest Secret,” that has stuck with me since I read it back in the early 1990’s.
He said “You can have anything in the world you want, if only you can help enough other people get what they want.”
Whenever I find myself discouraged or wondering why I’m doing what I’m doing, I think about those words and how I can apply them to the task at hand.
Like the mangrove seedlings above, let’s get a fresh start in 2009, have high expectations, and be ready for anything!
Happy New Year from BeachHunter!
BeachHunter working hard in his other "office."
