The Lake Reflection for 2009!

This is the time of year that I reflect on the last twelve months and start to look for­ward to the year to come.

If there is one thing I’ve learned this year is it’s never pre­dict what you think will hap­pen in the upcom­ing year. Last year I wrote about an engage­ment and this year I must admit it ended abruptly.  I could truly focus on all of the neg­a­tive that has tran­spired this year, but that’s not really why I write this — how­ever let’s look at the chal­lenges I did make it through:

• Mov­ing 3 times in 1 year
• Fin­ish­ing the Con­sumer Behav­ior for Dum­mies book in 90 days (yes all 384 pages)
• End­ing a rela­tion­ship and an engage­ment and still sur­viv­ing (and yes I gave back the ring)
• My son turn­ing 13
• Learn­ing how to be happy with­out being in a rela­tion­ship for 1 year
• Los­ing two very spe­cial grand­par­ents within a few months of one another
• Being the vic­tim in a car acci­dent on the high­way in which I was rear-ended by a car going 55 mph (I was able to walk away thankfully)
• Another redesign of LauraLake.com

Like most peo­ple I’m ready for 2009 to end. I’m ready for the start of a new year.  My out­look is opti­mistic and I know that this past year made me stronger and well pre­pared for the next decade. We never know why we go through what we go through, but I’m one who always believes there is a rea­son.  In the last year I’ve lost some friend­ship, but I gained stronger ones.  I’ve said good­bye to drain­ing peo­ple and I have more energy today because of it.  I sit in my lit­tle town­house and real­ize that while my life is still in tran­si­tion, but I am at peace.

I’ve made it through the last year by being thank­ful for what I do have.  I have:

• A won­der­ful son who is now taller than me, but I can still fool him by wear­ing high heels.

• Great friends that stuck through some really tough times with me and tomor­row we’ll be the last ones stand­ing ready to ring in the new year.

• A warm home that while I wish it were on the Kansas side is pretty damn cozy.

• A fan­tas­tic cat who makes sure I never sleep alone.

• A tele­phone, I have heat, I have food in the refrig­er­a­tor and I have a car to drive.

I sup­pose if this year taught us any­thing we learned how to be thank­ful for what we have. We learned how to appre­ci­ate the small things and in all the neg­a­tive we started to find the pos­i­tive eas­ily. It’s been a scary year for many. We’ve encoun­tered tough eco­nomic times and we’ve seen many lose their jobs.  I for one had to walk away from a busi­ness that I loved because the dream could no longer be funded.

I’m thank­ful that through­out this year I learned how to be more “real” than I’ve ever been. I’ve learned how to end toxic rela­tion­ships before it was too late and I’ve learned how to wake up in the morn­ing and real­ize that through it all I’m still standing.

What does the new year bring?

It brings a fresh start, it brings aspir­ing hopes and dreams and above all it brings more qual­ity time with my son and my dear­est friends.

I have the com­mon goals like most peo­ple eat health­ier, go to the gym, save more and maybe cut back on the wine (or maybe not.)

Truth is my goals do not include moun­tain climb­ing, mak­ing a mil­lion dol­lars or writ­ing another book (at least not this year) — my main goal is to find the bal­ance that I lost 10 years ago; to enjoy every moment and to savor every good thing that comes my way.

This year is already off to a good start being cho­sen as one of 2010 KC Busi­ness Magazine’s Ris­ing Stars — but through­out this year I will breathe and expe­ri­ence every moment with­out rush­ing into the next — will you?

Here is to another new year,

Laura Lake

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