Whoever said, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail,” knew this moment would come when we’d have to have a serious discussion about 2020. It’s a new decade, and I have an urgency to again offer wise words so 11 months from now, we’re not still in this same place. Indulge me please because the purpose of having wisdom is to share it:

• Go the extra mile and be the best–the additional effort is worth it. Even if nobody notices, do it for the pride you’ll feel and as a testament to what excellence looks like. There will always be somebody cuter, smarter, richer, savvier than you but when you give your best, you are unbeatable and absolutely unstoppable. As poet Robert Frost did ages ago, “take the road less traveled and it will make all the difference.”
• Be more discerning. It’s no secret that I love to shop and I’m good at it. Nevertheless, I’d come to the place where I loved everything I touched. Every pair of earrings was cute, the sandals were to kill for, the purse was perfect, the skirt would look great with the top I already had—you get the picture.

I finally had to have a long talk with Cynthia Ann and let her know, yes, all these things are cute, but you can’t love them all. I have a one-in/one-out policy– for everything I bring in, something must go, and if it won’t fit in one bag, I can’t have it. Now my conversations go like this: “You can have it only if you really love it.”

Most folks don’t like to shop so discernment about shopping isn’t the concern. It may be whether to leave a job you hate or stop seeing someone who’s always negative. If you’re in a dangerous relationship, it may be planning the safest time to leave. It is critical that you not act hastily but take a minute to pray, listen, and then decide what you can live with and what’s best.

• Recognize your power. We each have some– whether we choose to use it or not is the color of another horse. Unfortunately, being powerful is like being a lady—if you have to tell someone you are, you probably aren’t!

Imagine what could happen if we used our power for good. British philosopher Edmund Burke reminds us, “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good *people to do nothing.” Good people, please know that with the state of our national and international affairs, doing nothing in 2020 is not an option.

• Seek meaning and purpose in your dailiness. It’s easy to drift from day to day and before you know it, you’re a zero with a line through it as my friend Cheryl loves to say, but there are a million ways you can find meaning and purpose–Meals on Wheels, rocking babies in the neonatal unit, reading to and having lunch with second graders, etc.

We got a request Sunday from Kairos Prison Ministry to help bake cookies for prisoners. The sweet treats are to gently remind our oft-forgotten brothers and sisters during March that they have worth, forgiveness, and they’re not forgotten.

This request is right up my alley since Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster and I loooove cookies, especially chocolate chip ones. While I wasn’t looking for meaning and purpose in chocolate chip cookies, I know it’s there and I don’t intend to stop until I find it. For more info or to join the chipmobile, http://www.kairosprisonministry.org/blog/tag/cookies/

*Pronoun changed

I am all ears for your wonderful 2020 plans at #drbondhopson on Twitter and Facebook!

Looking for inspiration, empowerment, uplift, straight talk, an encouraging word to brighten your day? You’ve arrived! Meet Dr. Cynthia Ann Bond Hopson, best-selling author, educator, inspirational speaker, sistergirl–she’s all that and more. All the way from Stanton, TN (you can’t get there from here) to 50 states, six continents and everything in between, she’s wise, witty and altogether wonderful. She enthusiastically invites you to slow down, sit a spell, and share a giggle or two.