FROM THE EDITOR
Your Most Precious Gift is Waiting for You
The most precious gift I wish for you this holiday season is the gift that is already within you – the gift of courage. Courage is not the absence of fear but the ability to act in spite of it. We all have fears that hold us back from reaching our full potential, and we all have reasons for allowing those fears to hold us back. Make 2005 the year you break through the barrier of your fears and act in spite of them to reach for your dreams.
As nurses we've saved lives, made life-or-death decisions and made a difference in the lives of patients and families. Open yourself to making that same difference in your own life. Use these last days of 2004 to decide what you want from yourself and for yourself in the new year. Then decide how important those goals are to you. If it's important enough to want, know that you CAN achieve it.
In 2005 give yourself permission to try and permission to fail and then try again. With that single commitment you have the power to make even the impossible happen. With the gift of courage, believe me, you can tap that power to try and try again until you succeed.
You've worked hard this year, probably harder than ever before. Take some time this holiday season to prepare for next year. You owe it to your family, your friends, your coworkers – but most of all you owe it to yourself. The God that each of us believes in has put us on this planet to make a difference. Start 2005 with an act of courage – make a difference in your own life, and you'll change the lives of countless others at the same time.
