Happy 2011!  I'm so excited.  I love New Years almost as much as any holiday.  More than any other, it has that sense of a fresh new start... or restart anyway.  Though we can do it any time during the year, there is a visceral surge I can feel when so many people put energy into forgiving past mistakes, accepting what is, and leaning in with such strong intention toward creating the future they want.  I just love tapping into that.

For me this year, I plan to try some new things.  New challenges, new experiences, new foods, new music, as well as new ways of working, resting, creating, loving, and living.  Last year I had several personal victories around stepping out and trying something new... and I loved the feeling.  I want more of it.

I have a list of new experiences I'd like to create in 2011.  The cool part is that it doesn't really matter if I end up liking the new activity or not.  What I love is the feeling of exploring and expanding.  I find every new experience broadens my view of the world and my ability to understand others.  These new adventures keep me humble and boost my confidence at the same time as they are almost always slightly intimidating, scary, or difficult at first.  And sometimes, I find some things or create memories, previously avoided or ruled out, that become favorites in the end.  All I had to do was open up, be brave, and try them.

So to start out 2011, I get to check snow shoeing off my list!  My old story was that I don't really like the cold.  Having lived all of my life in Texas and California... well, need I say more?  But just as you'd expect, I loved it!  A completely different kind of beauty, a completely different kind of physical exertion, a completely new experience.

As you fully enter 2011, open your mind and your intention to new things.  Create your own list of new experiences about which you are curious or, even better, that you fear.  They're all around you, big and small:  Hot air balloon rides, horseback riding, Vietnamese food, ordering something different off the menu of your favorite restaurant, mixing up your routine at the gym, at work, or at home.  Inviting someone new to lunch, listening to a new artist or genre of music.  Whatever it is it will expand, stretch, and broaden you... and, if you're lucky, give you more confidence and a deeper understanding through which to view and interface with the people who intersect your life this year.