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How to Make This Year Great!
Hello all! Welcome to Ag-Personalities.com. I am pleased to be a part of this exciting website for agricultural professionals and good ole country folks. I am Brandy’s first cousin, neighbor while growing up, and good friend. Just to let you all know a little about my role with Ag-Personalities.com…I too grew up across from a farm with cornfields in every view. After high school, I went off to college where I majored in psychology and minored in business and child development. I then obtained a masters degree in marriage and family therapy and have practiced in the southern part of our country for the past couple of years as a marriage and family therapy associate. I am currently obtaining a doctoral degree in medical family therapy, which is researching the biomedical, psychological, social, and spiritual dimensions of our health and relationships. Through these past years, I met the love of my life, Lauren, and we were recently married. Although my education has taken me out of the small town Brandy speaks so highly of, I still enjoy returning for pig-pickins, family gatherings, and riding 4-wheelers. It is difficult to duplicate the hospitality, generosity, and communion felt within these country communities. That is why I have decided to write a monthly column for Ag-Personalities.com discussing a variety of topics that are important to everyone. In the coming year, you may see articles discussing communication, starting a relationship on the right foot, long distance relationships, building trust and fidelity, finances, gender differences in showing love and affection, overcoming divorce or a difficult breakup, coping with health issues, among others.
Since this is my first column for Ag-Personalities and it is the beginning of an exciting new year, I thought it was only fitting that I write about new years resolutions and how you can make this year great! I cannot begin to describe the countless number of people I hear every year saying, “I am going to lose weight this year” or “I am going to go to church every Sunday this year” or “I am going to find myself a boyfriend or girlfriend this year.” I could likely go on forever discussing all of the new years resolutions I hear clients, friends, and family eagerly describe. Interestingly, we inevitably end up breaking our new years resolutions. So why are these resolutions broken? Is it because we were not dedicated? Is it because we didn’t have enough support in achieving our goal? Is it that God might have had a greater purpose or idea for our year? Undoubtedly, it is a combination of these variables that lead us toward failure. This is why I have included a brief guide for making your personal well-being and relationships a top priority in 2010
The first step to achieving your goals in 2010 is understanding what is important to you. Until you can truly recognize your hopes, dreams, or wishes for the new year, your efforts to accomplish objectives will be nothing more than a thoughtless shot in the dark. Take some time and really think about what you want for yourself and what you deserve from others. Although this sounds crystal clear, it is missing a crucial component. We also have to reflect upon our past mistakes personally, interpersonally, and professionally. Our past successes and failures provide a roadmap for our future direction. Once you have thought about your goals and cognitively explored your past blunders, you must commit to taking the necessary steps. Commitment is everything in making a goal, finding what you want in life, and sticking with it. I will leave you with a quote from Woodrow Wilson who said, “You are not here merely to make a living. You are here to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, and with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world. You impoverish yourself if you forget this errand.” Looking forward to the new year, I encourage each of you to use this time as a reflection of how you can achieve your personal and relational aspirations while supporting others through your thoughts, prayers, and actions. More to come soon! I wish each of you success and love in 2010!
Kenny
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