End of Year Reflections

What a crazy year this has been. I've gone from riches to rags and back again. Never has the Ray family gone thru so much turbulent waters, all in the same year. Oh there were those early years, when we ate beans and alot of rice month after month but that was when I was going to school and the kids were too young to realize that we were stone cold broke.
We had this Chevy Blazer that needed a new transmission or motor every six months or so. We would have to put the tab on a credit card because we didn't have the funds in the bank. As the years went on we were able to weather the storm much better. I had a great job and the money wasn't an issue. Now things have come full circle and I feel like either we will start all over again or maybe we are going to learn something from the past and this time we are just getting our SECOND WIND.
Now 20 years later my life is totally different. I don't do the same things that I used to do. I don't think the same way. I've gained a bit of weight but nothing too obvious. Yeah, all in all the Ray household has changed. The kids are all grown up now and in fact, we have 8 grandchildren. We've started new businesses and even today my schedule is run by me and not by some boss telling me what to do on an hourly basis.
So what does the future hold for me and my family? That's really what the next 2 weeks is all about. In the next short days that end the year 2010, Linda and I will mapout what we will and won't do in the year 2011. I can tell you now that part of what we won't be doing is wasting time. I can't tell you how much time I've wasted in the last year. Time spent watching television or chasing this venture or that idea. At the tender age of 49 I'm starting to focus my attention on the next 40 years. The difference this time is that I don't have any limitations, like not being old enough or can't get the information.
As I was speaking with a group of business men and women this morning, for our weekly networking group, there is so much opportunity out there that I don't have an excuse not to be successful at whatever I put my hand to. All I have to do is decide what is truly important in my life and then pursue it with passion. The key to this whole thing. GET OFF MY BUTT AND DO SOMETHING.
What about you? Is next year going to be yet another year where you just allow life to pass you by without some much as a sniff of its beauty and content? Or are you going to make it a passionate point that you are going to get involved in your future and make things happen? As for me and my house...