May 2015 be Your Year! May you start each day with reverence and purpose; knowing that our Creator and yes we all have one, breathes breathe in our bodies and has blessed us to see another year. How we spend each minute, every hour of every day is entirely up to us but I ask you to challenge yourselves from January 1st on to think more about someone else and their needs than we do for ourselves. No matter what our hardship story is and yes we all may have one, someone else’s story always trumps ours! Too many of us work at jobs that monopolize even our personal time but the change starts with one. If we all take the time to look around us and temporarily lift our gazes from our smartphones and devices, we will see this sometimes beautiful and imperfect world around us and people who are in need and everyone I know is way too smart not to fuel their energy into something that can be potentially life changing to someone else. Whether you donate your money to a cause or can spend an hour of your time helping someone, you will find that you have been humbled by being of service to someone simply for caring. Has anyone ever been able to find Good Will or Compassion on a store shelf? Please tell me if you have. If you’re a parent, these are valuable lessons to pass on to your children who as you know are literally sponges for the lives you lead. If you’re single or even engaged, encourage your friends or loved ones to get involved with you. It doesn’t take a lot of time to be selfless but a lot of Heart! I implore you to walk in the footsteps of the hungry, the homeless, the elderly and abused and think that if you were in their body, you would hope and pray for a savior to make it better or literally just a “helping hand.” I find that this generation of kids, my own family included or all about themselves and helping themselves that they have no regard for anything or anyone else around them. It saddens me to see this but the best way to fight against this, is to keep providing them with positive role models in their homes by our actions and hopefully it will be the change that is needed to turn things around.

Aside from good works to make our lives and communities better, I encourage you to be better mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, cousins, aunts, uncles, friends, students, leaders, pastors, managers, workers, and listeners. Pay attention to the world around you as there is so much that we take for granted every day. If you have never traveled or can’t afford to, there are so many places that a five dollar transit pass can take you for a day trip. I ask you to challenge yourself and step out of your comfort zones. See the world around you and explore how others live, you will almost always be humbled by everything you have and take for granted.

Challenge yourself to smile more and smile at people more even if they don’t smile back. Say, “Good Morning,” before initiating a conversation or asking for a favor. Ask a stranger or a friend how they are and then actually wait to hear their response with open ears. Say sorry more, even if you didn’t do anything—humility and peace goes a long way to maintaining friendships and relationships.

Always share! Say for instance, you’re at a restaurant and it’s your last piece of bread and you’ve been looking forward to it all week—a piece of bread shared with a friend or even a stranger will sit easier in your stomach than one eaten all alone. Carry extra snacks, water or tissue in your bag or pocket and be ready and willing to share or give a stranger on the train or the street. There is and will always be someone in need. Bless others by being a blessing.

Don’t be afraid to experience someone else’s life through a new set of eyes. Life is sometimes about experiences and timing. Listen to your intuition and that small voice that we all have inside—it’s what keeps us safe and also what propels us to success.

Seek out diverse, positive and upstanding people and befriend them. Broaden your acquaintances this year. We all carry around a bit of prejudice in our lives, sometimes passed on by our relatives or things we have seen on television and we miss out on amazing relationships because of it. I’ve always believed that our lives are richer for the people we meet and invite in.

Enjoy your life. Find beauty in the simplicity of every day. Eat good food, support your local farmers, try different cuisines, visit new neighborhoods, and support a new and small business. Utilize and help fund your local library. Get involved in your community, write your local congressional representative and let your voice be heard.

Give more, give more and give more. Dig into your closets and drag out all of those clothes with the tags still on and divvy them out to a local organization or people who you know will appreciate them. Clean out your pantry and donate cans to a local pantry in your community. Have someone or a family over for dinner; you might enjoy their company more than you know.

Leave the old habits, haunts, drama and bad energy in 2014. Park those things right at the door up until 11:59pm on December 31st.

My wishes for you are also a lot of my wishes because no one is perfect but with a little effort on all of our parts, 2015 will be awesome for ALL of us! Happy New Year!