Unfortunately, clarity regarding what life is really all about often does not come without a certain level of maturity. Our prayer should always be that this valuable lucidity comes when we have enough time to make a difference. No matter how many age-defying or skin firming lotions we buy, we all must come to terms with the fact that we each have an expiration date. We all have an email in the inbox of our hearts that tells us we will not be here forever. If like me you are in your forties, you are actually closer to the tomb than the womb.

So, how do we make our lives count while we are here? How do we let the world never forget that we passed through? The answer is relatively simple: by using whatever gifts and talents we have to serve humanity. Whatever it is you do well, take time to continuously refine and perfect it so you can use it to help others; to make the world a better place; to leave people better than when you found them. Martin Luther King Jr. put it this way: "Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'" This is a critical question we must ask ourselves daily as we venture out into the world because the real value of life isn't in what we do for ourselves but what we are able to do for others. Sir Ken Robinson reaffirmed this by saying: "What you do for yourself dies with you when you leave this world, what you do for others lives on forever." What are positive things are you working on that will outlive you?

There's no better time for a little bit of self-reflection like the end of another year. If you are on a road that you don't particularly like, you have the opportunity to choose differently starting today. If you have spent years willfully engaged in activities that have done very little to move your life forward, you have the chance to quit those fruitless exercises right now. It's never too late to start anew. The only thing that stands between you and the life you so desperately want is simply changing your mind. If you refuse to change your mind, next year will be no better than this year.

We all dream of a new beginning; one filled with clarity about what must be done in other to accomplish the often great goals that we have, but the pull and comfort of the old and familiar has the power to keep us stuck. Sadly, as long as we continue to tread the same old path that leads to nowhere, our lives will also be headed nowhere. The greatest calling we all have is to be of service to others but the only way we can do this is if we have great clarity regarding our own lives and where we are headed. When we know where we are going, we can influence and take others there too.