“When you reach for the stars you may not quite get one, but you won’t come up with a handful of mud either.” – Leo Burnett

This was the first quote I ever quoted.  I was in grade 11 in high school and had to write the foreword for our school yearbook.  It had to include a message to the grade 12 pupils finishing school that year.  For some reason I had this urge to share something really profound with them.  Some knowledge or secret that would forever have an influence on the people they were to become.  I didn’t quite know what (probably the only thing I didn’t know at 17!), but I knew it had to be motivational, inspirational.

So off I went in the search of some quotes.  And when I got to the Leo Burnett quote, it just felt right.  It resonated with me then, even as a teenager.  It affirmed that I could try anything I wanted.  And it gave me solace that in times when I have tried my all and I don’t end up on top, that it would be OK too, because at least it meant that I would be better off than if I did not try at all.  I liked it so much that it also ended up being my words of wisdom to the grade 12’s.

Fast forward back to now, to the pending new year.

After my mini meltdown about the pressures of new year’s resolutions I’ve spent a few days thinking about what it really is that I would like to achieve in 2016.  And out of nowhere the Leo Burnett quote popped into my head.  Sure, I want to lose weight, eat healthy, improve my skin care regime, be a better person, work harder, be a better wife, daughter, sister, friend, save all the lost dogs in the world, learn to cook better, create an amazing blog… but what does it really mean?  What is it that I would really like to achieve?  What will make me happy at the end of 2016?  When will I look back and not be disappointed by all the things I started on Monday and stopped on Wednesday?

“When you reach for the stars you may not quite get one, but you won’t come up with a handful of mud either.”

That’s it, really.  In the end what really makes me feel content is when I feel I am the best me I can possibly be.  And the best me is the me who knows in her heart that she tried and gave her best at whatever it is she thought was worth trying.  And then it’s OK if I don’t quite get there (like the size 8 jeans I’ve been saving in my cupboard  for years now!!) because if I gave it my all and still don’t catch that star, I know that I am more than what I was before.

So here’s to 2016!  To being me, to reach for the stars in everything I do.  To be more (and maybe a little bit less in certain areas)! To live life to the fullest.

Cheers!