Yearly Archives:2026

The Autumn of the Year…Turning Over a New Leaf

 

Lose Weight

Stop Smoking

Organize Papers

Start a Business

Create a Financial Plan

New Year’s resolutions by nature are made on New Year’s Day, the end of the holiday season. We make these major life changing decisions when we are worn out in body and spirit; when we lack energy, conviction, time and money. We resolve to do so much at a time when we have no real urge to do anything but rest.

Fall is a much better time to make those resolutions; and map out a strategy to bring them into reality.

When mapping out any course, you need to begin where you are. Take the time to review your current situation. How is your health? Are you happy with the way you look? How are you emotionally? Are you stressed? Are you spending enough time with your family? Have you put your education on hold? Are you happy in your current career? What does your financial picture look like? What are your assets and liabilities? Is your romantic relationship all you want it to be?

Once you know where you are, then you can decide where you want to go and how to get there. And a good roadmap is always in writing. So write out the goals, and what you need to do to reach those goals. Revisit your written goals often. Strategies become goals and goals become realities when they are written, reviewed and worked on.And sometimes, we need help to bring our strategies to realities. Ask for help. Seek out knowledge from those who know the things you do not know. Get professional advice. Follow the path of those who have accomplished what you want to do.

By beginning to create your new year now, you will have three additional months to think and dream and develop your goals. Resolutions made in the Autumn of the year, have much more opportunity for success, than those made in the hustle and bustle of the New Year.

– Mary Grace Musuneggi

Winnie the Pooh or Eeyore. Which one are you?

When my son, Christopher, was very young his favorite toy character was Winnie the Pooh. I was happy with that as Winnie the Pooh was one of my heroes. Unlike many of us, Pooh knows what will make him happy, and he pursues it with passion. When the honey pot waits, he is not diverted by anything that gets in his way—not bees, not blustery days, not getting stuck in a tree.

He could teach us all about being persistent, single-minded, and never having a harsh word to say. Pooh was always happy no matter how hard things got for him. And isn’t that what we all want to be.

Because Pooh went after what he wanted, and worked until the end to attain it, his days were filled with accomplishments and successful adventures. Wouldn’t we want all of our days to be like this.

On the other hand, Pooh has a donkey friend named Eeyore. Unlike Pooh, Eeyore spends his days worrying, complaining, doubting, and insisting that nothing good will ever happen. He is the epidemy of “Oh woe is me”. At the end of the day, unlike Pooh who is reveling in a pot of honey, Eeyore has had the kind of day he had expected. Even predetermined with his attitude. Sad and unaccomplished.

We have all heard it said that we “reap what we sow.” We get from life what we ask of it. If we think we can or if we think we can’t, both are correct.

At the beginning of each day, we can choose to be Pooh, expecting to have fun, happiness and accomplishments; or we can make the choice to be an Eeyore. We can choose to worry about everything, complain that we will never have what we need, blame others for our plight in life, and pronounce at every turn that life has treated us unfairly. This not only robs us of today, but it prevents us from having any expectation of things being better tomorrow.

Our path to abundant living needs to begin with a choice of attitudes. We need to believe that we are meant to be happy, that we are meant to be prosperous, and that all good things await us. We write the script of our lives each day and every time we make a life choice. Let’s choose Pooh “and live happily ever after.”

– Mary Grace Musuneggi