This Tuesday, the annual Peanuts Christmas special will be on. You know that as soon as that one airs, the others will fall in right behind. They take me back to that childhood innocence, when you still wished for school to close for a heavy snowfall so you could go sledding, or sitting by the fire.   My favorite scene in the Peanuts cartoon is when the kids all dance.  I am not sure who it is, but one of the kids (maybe Franklin) just cracks me up every year.  This year I will pay more attention so I can find out who it is, but when he dances, all he does is move his head from side to side as he kinda hops up and down.   Between that and the Snoopy dance (how cannot you not smile when you see Snoopy dance), it's just a small holiday treasure.

To this day, when something really wonderful happens, I tell people I am doing the Snoopy dance of joy. Do you have things like that to bring you a smile, a warm fuzzy?  I would love to hear what warms your heart this time of year, Anissa

shopping? some holiday cheer? some seasons greetings? It's that time of year and the biggest shopping day is almost upon us. Black Friday, or the day after Thanksgiving, has become such a big event, families structure their holiday plans around the shopping, the malls, the deals, the bargains.

When did this become so incredibly incredible?  For the past several years in North Carolina, some specialty malls would open at midnight Thanksgiving night!  I guess opening at 5am just wasn't good enough.  Some stores are even starting to prey on the before Thanksgiving rush and advertising incredibly special deals today through Wednesday only.   I will gladly admit it caught my attention. The deals I saw for things I have on my shopping list were enough for me to take pause.

How are you preparing for another hustling and bustling holiday season?  Do you have some strategies to ensure you are enjoying the journey and not just the destination?

I would love to hear them! Anissa 

So, another birthday has come and gone.  I know some who try to pretend their birthday doesn't exist and some who celebrate it for weeks. I have found that I enjoy the day more than I ever have because it has become a spirit for me, a birthday spirit. It takes over and I find that I am just happy, at peace.  I think when you don't think of yourself as old and don't feel like your chronological age, it's an easier space to be in!   Maybe one day I will feel my age, but I truly hope it's not well until my 70's or 80's! 

Until then, I have a long list of things I would like to do, I want to do, that I hope to do.  I have plans and for now, I am going to keep charging ahead!  What about you?  Is age just a number or is it holding you back?  I would love to hear from you, Anissa

I read a fine little book by Seth Godin called The Dip yesterday.  I have recently discovered this blogger (http://sethgodin.typepad.com), who is also an author.  What I enjoyed about this fine little book is that it talked about strategic quitting - knowing when what you are doing is a dead end, unproductive or ineffective - and stopping all together. 

I know, I know, Vince Lombardi told us that quitters never win, and winners never quit.  But I think he was talking about those persons who knew they were in the right situation at the right time for the right reasons so they should push forth and go for it.  I don't think it was meant for those persons who are aimlessly wandering along, working in a j-o-b, knowing that success isn't going to happen in their current path but are too secure or comfortable to make a change when that is the very best time to do so. Why? because change often means pain, lack of security, discomfort, and ambiguity (until you push forth and work through it, hence, the dip).

Now, the big question, for those of us who have really embraced this concept and have done so for years, does this make us unreliable, unpredictable? Or does it make us self-aware, in tune and ahead of the curve - maybe even too far ahead?  

What do you think? I'd love to hear from you! Anissa 

I was watching a sitcom on TV about a week ago when the line spoken by the character Andrea just stopped me.  The two characters were talking about their jobs and Andrea replied "If everyone asked if they loved what they do, the economy would collapse by morning."

No truer words have been spoken and have really stuck with me.  Out of everyone I know, am acquainted with, talk to, I can only think of one person who truly likes what she does every day. She has a joy for the job and a joy for her company.  But I am going to guess that is because she has not worked at her company for more than a year and is still in that 'honeymoon' phase.  Let's see how she feels at her fifth anniversary.

How true is that statement for you? Do you love what you do?  If by the chance the answer is no, why?  Is there anything in your control to change that? 

Let me know, I'd love to hear from you! Anissa