Can fish climb trees?!?!

Today just so happens to be one of those thoughtful days for me!  I don't know why, but I woke up feeling as though I could conquer the world (cold and all).  I read a quote awhile back by Albert Einstein and for some reason it's just stuck in my head for the past little while.  It says:

"Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing it is stupid"

How true is this!  Some days I find myself quick to judge, and every time I am, this little saying seems to pop into my head!  I know we all tend to judge each other, its something that society has taught us to do.  We judge based on appearance, race, looks, wealth, status etc....  The truth is, we have no idea what might be going on in the persons life that we are judging.  We all are fighting some sort of battle and I think we need to support each other a little more.  It may just be a simple smile to a stranger we pass on the street, kind words to the lady who is ringing up our groceries, time spent at a local charity, or spare change placed in a box, designated to help someone, at our local coffee shop!  The more we give, the more we get back. 

How many times have we struggled in our own lives?  How many times have you though, I'm just to stupid, I just can't do it, I feel like I'm "going crazy"?  I know I've muttered those phrases a few times (okay... probably more than a few) to myself.  So maybe I'm not the fastest kid on the playground, or maybe I didn't get the best marks in class, but it doesn't mean I'm stupid.  It means that maybe I'm not that great on the monkey bars, but the swings are more my element and its an area I'm going to excel in.  I had to learn (and it took awhile) that I can't read a book and be satisfied with learning whatever it is I'm supposed to know.   I felt stupid for years because I just couldn't "read" and learn.  It took awhile but I finally realized that I need to touch, I need to feel, I need to connect with whatever it is that I am doing in order to learn.  My heart has to be in it 100% for me to succeed.   "Success is not the key to happiness, but happiness the key to success.  If you love what you are doing, you WILL be successful"- Albert Schweitzer.  Look at the "Albert's" of the world go today, so wise! 

I'm so lucky that I have had such wonderful friends and family to support me.  I know sometimes I don't always make the greatest decisions.  Sometimes I know my parents shake their head, my brother rolls his eyes, and my friends just shrug because they don't know why on earth I'd make things harder for myself.  Yes... I am a SLOW learner!  Sometimes I need to screw up multiple times to fully understand it (usually resulting in heartache or disappointment)  But... "Sometimes failures are simply opportunities to begin again.  This time with more insight into what we really need to be successful".   So yes, maybe sometimes my friends and family don't understand what I'm up to, or why I have to make things harder for myself, but just support me.  Don't feed me the "I told you so" line!  Just support me.  How many people never reach their full potential because they never had the support of friends or family?  How many times have each one of us shot down an idea from someone we care about?  Lets lift each other up.  Lets not make anyone feel like that poor fish, struggling to climb a tree!  Because yes, on numerous occasions I have felt like that fish.  I also know for a fact that I don't like that "fishy feeling".

As we reach the New Year people are always making resolutions.  Most are the typical, quit smoking, go to the gym, don't shop as much, save money, go on a vacation....  Normally those are the examples of what my "Resolution" list looks like.  This year I actually put some thought into it.  I didn't just file it away in my mind (where I would "conveniently" forget it), but I actually wrote them down and taped them to the inside of my 2011 day timer. 

My goals for the year are:

1) Take an aromatherapy course
2) Work on saving money
3) Make a 5 year plan
4) Send out more "cards" and "little notes" to people to let them know I'm thinking about them
5) Make sure everyone I meet feels like they are special
6) Donate to the Food Bank once a month
7) Be "HAPPY" with the success I've made, and celebrate them!
8) Get my business off the ground
9) Register for an esthetics course
10) Be happy with me!  No comparing myself to other people!

What are your goals for the upcoming year?  Have you thought about them?  What are you going to do to make sure they become a reality?