This past year has been a great year overall!  I spent a lot of time traveling  to cities across the country.  Some of my travels were to familiar placed I’d been many times before like San Francisco, Aspen, Las Vegas, Denver and Chicago – all great cities with unique personalities that make them great.  I also visited cities like Austin and Duluth which are more off-the-beaten-path, but were great as well!  I’ll actually be back in Austin in just a few weeks from now and am looking forward to visiting again.  It’s about a 6 hour flight from Orlando to Austin in the Cirrus so it’s a bit of a trek, but well worth it once you arrive.

Besides doing lots of traveling and a good number of conventions and meetings, 2008 was also a busy year in terms of actual business.  We once again had solid growth and I couldn’t ask for a better staff of people who really care about treating our customers well and taking care of their needs.  On a more personal note, it seems my to-do list is never-ending, but I’m getting through it slowly but surely.  There are a lot of on-going projects and goals that I haven’t yet accomplished, but will continue working towards completing in the year ahead.

As I look forward to 2009, I see a very good year ahead.  I know you’re probably shaking your head right now wondering if I’m the only person in the world who’s not a pessimist with all the news of the economy and so many bad things happening to so many good people.  Sure, I’m keenly aware of the disastrous state we’re living in right now, but I’m choosing to keep my thoughts positive which I feel is the best way to get through this challenging time.  Negativity breeds like cancer and is crippling to a person’s ability to succeed at their goals.  It skews your perceptions by putting a dark tint over everything in life.  This darkness makes problems feel even deeper and you begin to loose hope right at the point when you need it the most.  It’s a downward spiral that’s hard to recover from once it begins.  As I mentioned earlier, I have a lot of goals for the year ahead – some of them are small, but others are huge and won’t be accomplished overnight – but they will be accomplished.  I know that I’ll reach them because I’m keeping my head high and my attitude positive.  You’ve got to believe that your dreams can become a reality, that tomorrow will be a better day than today, and that you can accomplish great things.  Believe in those people around you who are positive as they’re you’re best ally and will give you the strength to believe in yourself.  They are the ones who you can trust and reach out to for motivation when times get tough.  There will be situations that are out of your control, challenges and hurdles that seem impossible to overcome, to-do lists that are daunting, but a positive attitude is they key to overcoming those obstacles.

Take time out of your busy schedule to SMILE, LAUGH, DO THE THINGS YOU LOVE TO DO, SPEND TIME WITH PEOPLE YOU LIKE, HAVE FUN, and ENJOY LIFE!

Do those things and you’ll be amazed at what a great year 2009 becomes!