I'm sure that you are all expecting an inspirational post about New Years Resolutions, pep-talks, and git-r-done kind of stuff but... since I am just a bit too rebellious to do something I "should" do...you won't catch me involved in those...:) I'm not one that thinks it is necessary to wait until Valentines day to be romantic...saving chocolate till Easter is a shame and giving gifts to those who would other wise have none should not be saved till Christmas.  Green beer should be consumed on more than just St. Patricks day (ok bad example) and lastly, I do not want to wait to make important life resolutions until the calendar says to.  But before I loose any of you, I want to say that if you have a New Years resolution...go for it, and I truly hope you succeed!!!  That being said...I like real change, deep change, meaningful change, attainable change.  I think fad diets are good for loosing 28lbs then gaining it back, self help seminars are great until you have to drive out of the parking lot and discipline books work wonders until your toddler breaks your grandmothers antique vase or your teen wrecks your car!   My babbling is being prompted by one of the most "life changing" books that I am in the middle of reading and I just have to pass it on...

     I want to look back over my life and be able to say that I succeeded in the most important things that I committed to doing.  For me, this is having a successful marriage (I'm on #2 and will not have a #3!!) and raising my kids to be generous, caring, compassionate, productive adults!!!   I do, of course have a long list of other important things I want to accomplish, but these top it.  I need to admit that lately I have been struggling in both of these areas.  I know what I want them to look like, but have been at a loss of what to do to improve either.  Let me just say that I have read almost every marriage, and raising children type books, I have talked to wise friends, and even a counselor...but up until reading this week, nothing prompted real change.

     I want to say that I am not doing some fancy schmacy advertising for this book, I just think that I am doing a disservice to us all if I dont pass it along.  My post today will end with the one "punched me in the gut statement" and I hope that you take a minute to let it sink in and take hold.  I think will change everything that you do, just like it's done for me!!!

     The book is called "The 10 greatest gifts I give my children".  I'm not going to go into what it's about, you're just going to have to trust me and read it for yourself...I do want to mention in one chapter though, the author talks about just how much kids are shaped by their parents and how they learn directly by watching (and hearing) us...take for instance yesterday when my 2 year old said to me "mommy mad!" I said "no honey, mommy not mad" to which he responded "mommy mad, mommy say "holy crap!"oops....but also about 15 times a day he says "I love you sooooo much! It's a beautiful day!"  Thats the point...they learn to be just like us!  Take just a minute to think about you, your spouse, or your best friend and see how many of their traits are identical to their parents.....It's scary actually!!!  (Just a thought...if your not married, you might want to do a little "home visit" before you say "I do"!)

     I'm going to leave you with the simple, (and if you let it be)"life changing" statement the author concluded one chapter with. Please comment below and tell us what this means to you.  If you have trouble commenting, please click the link to our facebook page and post it on our wall there.  Here we go...