It occurred to me while I was running this morning that today marks not just the last Friday of the year, but in fact the last Friday of the decade. The 2010s brought many changes for me, including a career change from newspaper reporter to social worker. It has been a wonderful and wondrous change and I am just loving my new career.

The end of the year often brings a chance to reminisce about what transpired during the past 12 months. We can look at the end of the year with regret or we can look at the end of the year with fondness for the things that helped us become the people we are today. We can either end the year feeling good about our choices and the events that mattered to us or we can lament them. The choice is yours.

With the end of the year, in fact the end of the decade, we are afforded an opportunity to asses where we are in our lives. Did we do the things we wanted to do? Connect with people who matter to us? Did we make choices that will help us become the people we always were meant to be? Did we become more of ourselves? Even small steps in the right direction lead us where we need to be. Small progress still is progress. Congratulate yourself for your successes, regardless of their size.

As we embark on a new decade, I challenge you to think about who you want to become and what steps you might take to be more you. I want you to remember that every morning offers another chance to become the person you always were meant to be. I want you to remember that the new year offers 365 opportunities to be a better person, whatever that might mean to you. Perhaps it means practicing more self-love. Perhaps it means taking care of yourself more in the new year so that you may be better able to take care of those you love. Perhaps it means forging stronger connections with the people who matter most to you. Perhaps it means taking stock of relationships that no longer serve you. Perhaps it means severing ties with people who are emotional vampires. Whatever becoming a better person means to you, I want you to remember that each morning offers a chance to be that person.

The start of a new decade is kind of a big deal. This new decade can be whatever you want it to be. You can be the creator of your own catastrophe or you can be the creator of your own masterpiece. Whatever you decide to do with this new year, this new decade, is, of course, your choice. Choose wisely. Choose what you think will help you become the person you always were meant to be. Choose what you think will help you reach your goals. Choose what you think will make you happy. Make the next decade about making good choices, choices that will leave you feeling fulfilled.