Dear Reader:

Actually TODAY is the first blank page of a 365  page book…Write a good one! (Just added a little more stress to your calendar year!)

At the end of our lives… we realize we are all simply…stories. If that is the case, then, shouldn’t we be writing a good one? A best-seller…at least for ourselves?

Haven’t we all been in situations in life that were so stressful we were hardly able to function for worrying about it? And then one day, a solution comes along that takes that ‘albatross’ right off our backs… as if it had never been there. Perhaps we receive forgiveness from someone we wronged or a better job opens up than the one that previously fired us.

We are deliriously happy! We say things to our family and friends along the lines of ” I feel like I have been given a clean slate after my mess-up and a chance at a better beginning with no hang-ups attached from the past!” 

That same feeling should be experienced today…the first of January 2017. It is time to let past regrets and baggage stay behind at the old train depot and get on the new 2017 train… with nothing but a smile on our faces. No baggage allowed!

For me…I think the first page of my book of life this year might start with a letter:

Dear Universe:

Let me take a moment and introduce myself. My name is Becky Barbour Dingle. I am not as young as I used to be, but not as old as I hope to be.

Does anyone hear my small, tiny voice questioning my existence out there in the vastness of space and the vacuum of silence among the ethereal beauty of the stars?

I once heard that we are all made of star dust. I hope so…because to me that makes us all magical… like pixie dust from fairies. I am quite imaginative so I have no problem believing in things I can’t see.

On this first day of 2017 I want to make a promise to myself and you that I will strive to turn more mundane problems over to the Creator of this awesome, mind-boggling universe and live my life as if I were dancing and hopping from star to star.

Bring on those God Winks, bring on dandelions, wishes, rainbows, magic and continue to bring me signs that I am an important “speck” of dust floating within a soul in this thing we call life.

Reassure me that my life does exist for a purpose, though it may seem inconsequential in mankind’s pecking order of what defines greatness. Don’t let society deter me…but keep my vision upward, along with my extended hand so, at any time, I can be ready to touch the Face of God.

Universe…I wish you a Happy New Year-2017 and just in case nobody has told you this in awhile….“I love you.”

…………………………………

So until tomorrow….start writing and if not writing…then living.… your book of life. Happy New Year 2017!

Don’t forget! Say “Rabbit” today and eat those hoppin’ johns! 

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Yesterday, around mid-afternoon, I emailed Walsh and Mollie and Mandy and John to see if the grandchildren could wish everyone a Happy New Year…Boo Boo isn’t happy without starting the year with her four little munchkins! Lots going on last evening!

Princess Eva Cate (as the eldest grandchild family representative) has sent out a royal decree wishing  the blog a very Happy New Year from Boo Boo’s family! 2017!!!!!!!!!

Clemson…I am so proud of you! What a ballgame, what a performance…what a way to give your fans and supporters a most wonderful way to start 2017!!!!! We love you!