#MotivationMonday

Good Monday, everyone!

It's time to suit up and start another week.  But, this week is obviously like no other, as this Thursday we will be celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ (at least in my home).  The fellowship and family that comes along with this holiday supersedes anything that would serve to chip away at the significance of the time: bills, school or work-related stressors, anxiety about the future, you name it...

I think I have wasted a good portion of my day-to-day life worried about what has or has not come to pass, and it is now time for that to stop, as I bring in the new year.  The new year brings in new challenges, new joys and new pains, and that will not change, but the approach to them will...

If there is anything that I have learned about this year is that the joys and pains almost seem cyclical, as I have not had to endure so much discouragement since 2006, when I was fresh out of music school and realizing that the school had failed to prepare me for the business side of the music industry.  But, as I am now older and wiser, I can position myself for a slow and methodical re-attack.

So, as I bring in the new year and the tenth anniversary of my relocating to California, the commitment to my musical pursuits have been renewed, and willingness to leave California is also back on the table (once I am finished with my second Master's degree that is in progress).  The reality is that I would have faired just as well continuing with private lessons on my own than my particular selection of school, but that is now in the past.  So, I ask all who read this to please pray for the author and for this new year. Prayer changes things and a whole lot of (divine) change is needed today.  Enjoy and be safe...