Look Forward to 2017

By Dr. Glenn Mollette

I hope 2017 can be a good year for you. Whatever you can do to assist with the success of your year will be very helpful. A local businessman remarked recently, "The harder I work, the luckier I get." All of us are recipients of some bad luck throughout life. Often some of our bad luck is because of people we are associated with in our lives. What other people do greatly impacts us. A spouse, a parent, a child or work associate all affect us for good or bad. It's good for us when people we are close to are successful and not so great when they mess up. However, the bottom line is that we must all individually take ownership of our lives.

I used to write weekly for a Kentucky paper called Western Recorder. The editor of that paper Chauncey Daley was so great to me. I once submitted three stories one week and he sent them all back to me covered with red marks pointing out errors and things he didn't like. It was a little painful but he was willing to invest his time to help me learn and be better. Having anybody in our lives who cares enough about us to help us with anything is a real plus. We are better benefited from good advice when we seriously listen and make application.

All advice is not necessarily helpful. We all get bad advice throughout life so it's important to be discerning about what we are told and who is doing the teaching. Some of what we hear in life is repeated with almost inerrant credibility. For example eating badly will have eventual negative results on our health. We are told to watch our intake of sugar, fried food, and red meat and to simply use common sense on our daily portions. It's good advice and it's up to us to take it or leave it. We are told to exercise routinely because it's good for our health. Nobody can make us exercise. We have to take responsibility for our physical fitness.

The best way to have a great 2017 is to make our own decisions and take responsibility for our personal happiness. If you are waiting for a fortune to drop out of the sky you are wasting your time. If you are waiting for Mr. or Mrs. Wonderful to show up and take all your despair away you are going to spend most of your life in despair. God is not going to call you on the telephone with a three step plan for the year. However, looking up instead of looking down all of the time is always more uplifting.

Just remember that if you are able to move and think then you are not stuck. I do believe people get stuck. However, if you can think and can apply some activity you are not stuck. Use the mind and life that you have to act. Thoughts lead to action. Apply yourself. Put yourself into something that is meaningful and worthwhile. Serious action and application always net some results. If you want results get up and get going and do it most every day. The end result is that your next year will most likely see some very satisfying results.

Most importantly don't wait on someone to tell you what to do. Tell yourself what to do and do it, and look forward to 2017.