I am on my way home from Steamboat Springs, Colorado and can't help but think that tomorrow is the true beginning of the new year for me. It has been a crazy but amazing week and now tomorrow starts reality, all over again.

Yesterday Aris, Melessa, and I all skipped out on skiing to go get 'the best massage we have ever gotten.' It seriously was way worth the missed ski day. My massage therapist asked me in the middle of the massage if she could say a sort of blessing over me. Well. . . knowing me, of course I did not tell her no. I prepared myself during the rest of my massage for what this blessing could be like and really opened up to see what her beliefs were. She surprised me. She spoke words in a way that completely opened my eyes to life and really made me think about my year to come.

With the new found peace that her words provided me with, I was inspired to write my own little 'blessing' for my new year:

May I continue to dream big and only live in a way to conquer those dreams.

May I cherish my family and never cease to be amazed by the bond we have together.

May I wake up each day and treat it like it is my last.

May I leave the past in the past and only live for a bigger, brighter future.

May I take my goals and allow them to grow to higher places. [This world is big enough for an even bigger Alexandra]

May I .love. with all my heart and give love to the ones who will adore it in return.

May I have hope, may I have greater faith, and may I have stronger, deeper courage.

May I have more patience each day and continually allow people to bless me.

May I live my life fearless in knowing that there IS a plan for my life.

May I grow in Spirit, in knowledge, and in wisdom so that in 2012 I can be even greater than I am today.

With hopes that you all live life to your fullest this year, and that you take the life that you are given and make a difference in someones life. We are all here to be better, and use our own individual talents to help those around us.
Go out and make more of your life this year. . . I challenge you.

a. elizabeth

Wasted Time

People always worry about wasting time and say things like 'time is of the essence.'
Why is time such a worry? Why must it not be wasted? What makes time 'of the essence'?

Essence is defined as the most essential or vital part of something. So, people are saying that time is most important in their lives.. Well this may very well be true. Time is very important in our lives, we do not get time back and each moment can be used to be bigger and better. Time is a great thing but what gives us this time? How do we make sure that we still have this part of life that is the most essential thing for us?

Our life is measured in heartbeats... With each new breath and each new heartbeat you have more life, you have more time. The very core of our time to be better, to live longer, and experience more things is all based on the amount of time our heart gives us with each beat.

Sitting here thinking about wasted time and asking myself, 'why did you even bother wasting your time,' I began to think about what was worst... The wasted time or the wasted heartbeats that were put into the experience?

I thought about brokenness and healing time and dug deep into what really mattered. I came to a personal conclusion that...

To me the time does not matter. Waste all my time that you want... But shame on you for wasting my heartbeats and my own gift of life that was being measured in each breath. Shame on you for wasting my time in the heartbeats that come after that are needed to fix the hurt that was caused.

Go ahead and waste the time... Waste the minutes in the days and the hours in the weeks... But think about the core, the heart, the soul, the feelings and emotions behind the time that you are wasting. Is it fair? I really don't think it is at all.

-alexandra mason

This New Year, I am going to be different!

Dr Phil proclaimed, "The way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you may have started and have never finished."

So... I looked around my house to see all the things I started and hadn't finished. Before leaving the house this morning, I:

(a) finished off a bottle of White Zinfandel,

(b) a bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream,

(c) a package of Oreos,

(d) the remainder of my old Prozac prescription,

(e) the rest of the cheesecake,

(f) some Doritos,

(g) a box of chocolates,

(h) and a half bottle of scotch.

****You have no idea how freaking good I feel right now.

Happy New Year!!!