a year from now

"A year from now you'll wish you'd started today."
This morning, a friend shared this quote and it started me thinking.....
What will be different a year from now because of what I choose to start today?
What is different now because of what I started a year ago?

Well.  I can tell you this much. Reading from my journal of all the wonderful plans and dreams I had for the past year....little has changed. This is a major wake up call for me. Yes, there have been some things I'm very happy with. I feel more confidence...more strength...more hope. I feel less fear in starting new things....and I'm much more willing to walk through open doors of opportunity than I was a year ago.  I've learned to listen more to that little voice that whispers...or sometimes yells...."yes"..."do it"...."you've got this"...."why not?"..."what's the worst that can happen?"....you know...that little voice.  But the big things...the game changers....those things that I was so sure would happen during the past year.....simply did not happen.
So. Do you think I just put them in a box and say "Well. These things didn't happen in a year, so apparently they aren't meant to be. I just give up on them."....do you really...REALLY think I'm going to do that? 
Hardly, my friends.  Never. Not a chance. Do you know why?
Because I believe. Purely and simply....I BELIEVE.
In hope.
In dreams.
I can choose to look at this past year and see what I didn't do. That would be oh so easy.  Or I can choose to say "Ok. So...I'm not finished yet."
The longer I have to wait and work, the sweeter the victory. Perhaps a year ago I wouldn't have appreciated what I would have....what I am becoming...as much as I would now...or even a year from now. I can't change what's behind me...just what's ahead. And some of those things, it's not in my power to change.  I can't do anything about the year past...but the year ahead?
It begins today. What will I start today that will change the year ahead? How will the year ahead be different because of what I start today?
I know what I hope is different a year from now....but if it isn't, it doesn't mean I give up on it. It just means I'm waiting until the dream is ripe and ready to be picked....that's when it will be the sweetest.