Can you believe it? Another year has come and gone. A new year lies ahead of us.

It seems that time speeds up with each passing year.

It seems that only yesterday we were making resolutions, many of which we failed to keep.

We made it through 2011 and we are now facing 2012.

We have two choices. We can either waste time by sitting around and complaining about the things we failed to accomplish last year or we can decide to make the most of this new year.

In describing his life experience, a Middle Eastern mystic said, “ I was a revolutionary when I was young and all my prayer to God was: ‘ Lord, give me the energy to change the world.’

As I approached middle age and realized that my life was half gone without my changing a single soul, I changed my prayer to: ‘ Lord, give me the grace to change all those who come into contact with me, just my family and friends, and I shall be satisfied.’

Now that I am an old man and my days are numbered, I have begun to see how foolish I have been. My one prayer now is: ‘ Lord, give me the grace to change myself.’ If I had prayed for this right from the start, I would not have wasted my life.”

So, whatever choice we make this year, it must begin with changing ourselves. We cannot waste another year trying to change other people.

A lot of our frustration comes from our desire to change others.

We find ourselves saying, “I wish they would change.” But these are only empty wishes.

There are lots of people that have missed out on life by waiting for everyone else to change.

While they were waiting, time just kept right on going and passed them by.

It’s a new year. You have a choice to make.

What kind of person will you be this year?

Will you seek to change others or will you accept responsibility for your life and choose to change yourself?

Do you believe that you can change?

The choice is yours, so what will it be?