A New Year's to Remember

It's a new year and a new whirl through the pathways of life. While most people I know spent New Year's Day relaxing, I found myself in my dentist's office gripping my hands as I endured two hours of emergency dental work. 

Here's the playback on how I found myself in this predicament. After baking several desserts for the party my family and I were attending,  I sampled one of the cookies and immediately heard the following sounds: "Crack! Crackle! Drop." Running to the mirror, I found an odd sight: a large gapping hole in the front of my mouth. I started to get frazzled so I quickly dialed my dentist's emergency number. What I did not expect was to have a long distance east to west coast conversation but I listened carefully to what seemed to be an impossible quick fix. Remembering that my one word to guide my 2016 journey was believe, I put the dentist's plan in motion. Are you ready for his remedy?

"Buy a bottle of Krazy Glue and vaseline. Place the latter on my gum, add glue, and then, stick the false tooth back into my mouth."

Knowing that Krazy Glue adheres to skin, I tried to figure out how to carefully insert the false tooth without having my fingers stick to it or placing it lopsided back into my mouth. One hour to go before the party and I was still fiddling with the tooth. Finally, with strong belief that I could insert the tooth between my front teeth, I accomplished the task and left for the party 30 minutes late. 

What transpired was another crazy incident that probably was to be expected. As soon as I ate something my tooth fell out. Oops, remembering that I left the Krazy Glue at home, my husband flew out the door to the rescue. 

I guess you must be thinking that I solved my problem. Well, Krazy Glue was not my salvation. After three attempts to place the tooth back into my mouth, I decided it was not worth the bother so I went toothless. With family and friends like mine, the self-consciousness wore off and I felt comfortable but each photo taken I made sure that my lips were tight together. 

Today, I am tired from the New Year's experience, relieved that all is behind me for now, and believing that the new year will bring new direction if I remain positive. After all, I not only lived through most of this year with dental issues, but survived New Year's with a missing front tooth. 

Life sometimes throws curve balls 

but the game still goes on.

http://www.photosforclass.com/search/baseball%20curve%20ball/5

It's the first Slice of Life for the new year at Two Writing Teachers. While most of the bloggers might be writing about their one word for 2017, I am reserving my reveal until Thursday when I will be hosting at my blog site the one little word party for Spiritual Journey Thursday. Please join me  if you are interested in revealing your one word with the writing community.

Celebrating My One Little Word to Kick Off the New Year!

For me, choosing one little word (OLW) as my direction for the new year was a slow process that needed careful consideration and nurturing. Let me give you a sneak peek at how my OLW became my guiding star.

Carol Varsalona's OLW

Now that I chosen the word or did the word choose me, I am proud and want to celebrate! I have moved From Openness (2014 OLW) to Listen on a journey worth exploring. 

Here's to celebrating 2015.

New Year's Eve Dinner Party

And the Countdown Leads to a Wonderful Start to 2015

Each week, Ruth Ayres asks us to recount the celebrations that bring joy to our lives. 

You can read Ruth's celebratory post and the celebrations of other writers here.

Tick, Tock!

www.ibtimes.co.in

On the stroke of midnight, the iconic Times Square ball will drop and the clock will signify the start of the new year. The midnight hour has magical possibilities. For most people it is a time of transition, a time to believe in the power of change. 12:00 a.m. rings in sounds of cheer and harmony across the world and brings hope to those who wish to succeed.  On New Year's Eve, we rejoice, open our arms, temporarily soar to new sights, and believe. 

When we land back on solid ground, many people hope for positive change and usually take the traditional route of making resolutions. Will this lead to significant change in a way to approach life? Losing weight, eating healthy, exercising regularly are a few of the topics that people resolve to make an active part of their lives. In reality, resolutions are well-meaning and achieve momentary satisfaction but most studies over the years find that resolutions are not lasting pacts for life. Amy Moran writes in 4 Ways to Make Your New Year's Resolutions Stick in 2015 that studies show resolutions are dropped after a week and only 40% are adhered to. So what do we do? Last year at this time, I found an approach that was effective.

I created one little word to guide my path. You can access last year's post here. The word, openness, became my connector on my journey. Keeping sight on this word helped me grow as a learner and afforded me the opportunity to try new experiences. It was with a growth mindset that I was resolute to move forward. I heard the word open in many different instances, felt the impact of open doors noticed, wondered, and found new connections. 

Now, I am ready to greet 2015. With open arms I welcome a new year with a new little word. Before I reveal that one word, I want to reflect on the 2014 journey with Amy Moran's tenets:

1. Identify your readiness to change: I listened to my inner voice during the year that called me to a world of positivity and possibilities. 
2. Believe that you can do it: I realized that there is an ebb and flow to the process of change and found that this worked for me - one step forward, one misstep back.
3. Think constructively about setbacks: I created this mantra to help me think through the process. ==============>
4. Build mental strength -"Commit to building your mental muscle by conducting daily exercises that will help you get stronger." This is where the real work lies.

So now I will take my advice, Step Back Before Going Forward, and reveal my one little word that will guide my 2015 journey. By being open in 2014, I accepted the call to act positively. By listening intently to my inner voice and those around me, I will create a thoughtful connection that will propel me to hear messages when I may not have in the past. Listening is an art that is developed from childhood but how often do we really listen intently? I can take cues from Mary Rice Hopkins & Puppets who sing the Blah Blah Blah Song.  

Enjoy your 2015 journey as I start mine.

Tagxedo Word Cloud to capture my one little word: LISTEN