“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.” ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce
By now you’ve already written on that first page. And yes, that book is called Opportunity. You are now writing the book of your life – this chapter just happens to be 2012. Make it something exciting to read – something you will look back on with pride and a sense of fully living out your calling in life.
I read in a interview this week where Dr. Mehmet Oz said: “I recently learned that the more decisions we make in a day, the more likely we are to make bad decisions – because deciding wears us down.
You start making decisions in the morning, and by the middle of the afternoon, you’re running on fumes.”
Now – I like spontaneity and certainly don’t want to become a robot. I don’t want to feel programmed to go to Taco Bell every day. Some days I want to go to Garcias, or Panchos, or Nachos, or La Hacienda. You get my drift.
But I realize that making the big decisions in advance frees me up to be most productive without interruption. I don’t have to “decide” whether to answer the phone at 10:00 AM or to respond to the latest flurry of incoming emails. I’ve decided way in advance that my mornings will be spent on my writing projects – so those potential interruptions are not weighty decisions at all.
As most of our regular readers know, I was raised in an Amish/Mennonite family in rural Ohio. My grandparents on both sides were horse and buggy Amish. Our family got running water in the house when I was in the eighth grade. We did have cars but they were always black. While I have left much of the religious legalism, I still value the work ethic, integrity, family life and simple values that tradition embraces. Over the years I have talked to many people who admire the Amish culture and say they would like to have more of that lifestyle in their own lives. Well, here’s your chance.
Each year, my sister-in-law, Viola (Mullet) Miller, gives me an Amish Country calendar from Holmes County,Ohio. 
In the introduction of the 2012 calendar it says this:
Working with creative people gives me the opportunity to hear lots of cool ideas. People approach me every day with what could be the next greatest iPad, Hula Hoop, self-directing Frisbee, time management system, dog training trick, or best-selling book. Often these people brag about having so many great ideas that they have not been able to narrow down and develop even one.
And therein lies the challenge. If you have lots of great ideas and you’ve been doing research for the last five years –
I’ll guarantee you nothing has been added to your bank account. People become enamored with making their idea perfect and thus never launch anything. Many times the window of opportunity has already passed or someone else released a similar product before they are “ready” to share and deliver.
This is the most famous editorial reply ever featured in a major newspaper. It all started when a little girl, looking for a direct answer to an age-old question, sent the following letter to the New York Sun.
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“DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
“Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
“Papa says, ‘If you see it in THE SUN it’s so.’
“Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?
“VIRGINIA O’HANLON.
“115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET.”
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The paper’s editor, Francis Pharcellus Church, had three choices: tell Virginia the raw truth, lie, or simply not print her letter at all. Ultimately, he printed her letter and responded with the following.
