The end of the year is upon us. I always like this time of year because I feel like I can forgive myself for all of the mistakes I have made throughout the year and get ready for a fresh start. I can strive to do better. I usually am at my heaviest weight around now. Halloween candy leads to Thanksgiving overeating, then to Christmas season indulgences. But.....not this year. Thankfully, I have made a drastic change in my eating choices and I am ready to step it up in the new year. As I review the last year, my change in diet also coincided with a change in my general thinking. I have thoughtfully and emphatically tried to change a part of my personality that often gets in the way of my own happiness. I have always been a "pleaser". I want everyone to be happy and I try to do my best to help others reach that goal. In the last couple of years, I finally came to the conclusion that it is an impossible task.  As hard as I try to protect those closest to me, I have no power to insure their happiness. So, I can only be true to myself, and make choices that are well intentioned. Sometimes that means not being as social as I once was. It often means being a hermit.  There is nothing wrong with being a hermit.

As Albert Einstein once said, "Solitude is painful when one is young, but delightful when one is more mature."

Maybe I am maturing.