January -- New Beginnings by Jane Kelley

A new year! Thank goodness! I can make a fresh start on a project that has bedeviled me since 2013. I'm confident that I can solve its problems. I have new insights into the material. I've learned some lessons. (Many thanks to Cheryl B. Klein's book, The Magic Words.)

But the work that I did before is absolutely crucial to any future success.

Just like this......

It may not look like much. A wad of fabric. Not very beautiful. Shapeless. Seemingly purposeless. 

A tangle of cord. 

But wait......

After carefully straightening out the cords and precisely folding up that fabric, all is ready for you to board that small plane and hitch a ride up higher and higher.

And then, confident that you did your preparation work well. That your idea is big enough and strong enough. That you are in fact brave enough to take that leap ..... 

You will not fall! You will soar, as my husband did that day.

While I watched with feet safely on the ground, saving my courage to jump a different way another day.