Earth.

As we transition from the year 2011 to the year 2012 many of you are recalling the news that this year is slated for the end of the world. Now those of you familiar with the old prophecies should be relieved to know that they did not predict an end to the earth! What was predicted was an end to some entrenched social and political systems. For my way of thinking that will come none too soon. The last few years we have had way too much bad news and it is time for us to start planning to do some things differently.

Back in the sixties, we wanted to change the world. That didn’t go so well and what we found was the only thing we could really change was ourselves. So for 2012, I will work on being the change I hope for, changing myself. On difficult days I will be content to just change my socks. I am not expecting much in the way of political change, we shall see, we shall see – about that. What happens in my house, my office and my town are, after all, more important most of the time than anything done in a capital somewhere.

As you saw by my last post I am not big on resolutions. In the past that just set me up for disappointment. So here are some of the things I plan to do during the next year while waiting and hoping for some improvement in the human condition. Mostly I plan to start small.

Through the year I will make an effort to try to be of service to as many people as I can. Mostly I will do that by doing the work I have been doing for a while now and hoping that sometimes I will be rewarded for my efforts with that green energy we call money and other times maybe the reward will be the good feeling that comes from helping others. Occasionally we are blessed to get both. Anyone interested in joining me in this effort? If we all do our best then should the world come to an end we can feel good about our efforts. If the end of the world fails to materialize, as it always does, then well – there is always next year and in the meantime, we can feel good about ourselves.

Over the next year, my plan is to write posts for this blog at least twice a week. Some weeks there will be more. Last year there were about 40 posts, part of my learning curve. Next year we will aim for a hundred or more. Since it is not polite to fill anyone’s inbox with blog posts I will endeavor to restrain myself and post no more than once a day. That sound fair? The key word here is “try”, as I find that restraining my urge to share is almost as difficult as getting the ideas to write about.

My posts are mostly things that counselors and therapists might talk about, current trends and topics. I do plan to write the posts in ways that will be of interest to consumers or clients so there is a minimum of references and citations. Just enough sources will be included to show whose ideas I am exploring here. If I leave out a source you are interested in please let me know and I will dig it up for you when possible.

In case any of those infectious journalists stumble in here, this blog is not meant to be journalism, not sure any of it is really news. It is meant to be opinionated, mine especially but reader’s opinions are valued also. Think of this page more like letters to the editor and the opinion page than page one. I hope you will all enjoy the next year of this blog and feel free to participate.

Most of the topics cover mental health, substance abuse, parenting, and the journey toward having a happy life. Sometimes I feel the need to get political, sometimes there will be things I just find humorous. Most of the time, humorous and political turn out to be the same thing.

The topics currently on the agenda for blog posts, which I will try to mix up to be of interest to as many people as possible are:

1. Change and how we do it

2. Recovery and resiliency

3. Bipolar disorder and some of the newer research in that area

4. Behavior modification and ways to help kids grow up happy

5. The process of writing this blog and the other writing I am doing

Anything else you think needs to be added to this list? Thanks for reading this blog and here is wishing you a happy life and a joyful year.

David Miller. LMFT, LPCC