Here we are: a new quarter -- a new year! The opportunity is now to initiate something in ourselves that can bring change -- the change we likely have been wanting all along but haven't had the guts to take action on; until now. So here is my challenge for you:

Make that change.

You hear me? Be like Nike and "Just do it." Honestly you have nothing to loose, and if you are like me and carry along truckloads of emotional baggage, you have no better option than to loose that sort of negativity.

I will give you an example.

2015 for me was a strange year. I lived in weird places -- as we discussed before in my "Kennel Life" article -- had different sets of friends and I was on a much different road than I was on now. Honestly, I was still happy too, even when things took a turn for a worse for me, and I had to come to terms with some personal life choices and decisions that weren't in line with who I knew I was inside. I additionally was faced with some intense emotional stress that until just recently I did not realize was hurting me. Still, I saw the bright side in that dark time regardless, and even when I was lonely and transitioning from one group of friends to another, I still found ways to smile.

Now here we are a few weeks into 2016, I am again full of novelty. I have a new (significantly better) living situation, a new group of some of the world finest friends and a new road I am traveling on full of wonderful mystery and comforting stability. Likewise, the only way I am able to travel on this road is because I left the old one behind. I had to leave what was in 2015 back in 2015 and let 2016 thrive on its own set of (so far fantastic) terms. Thus, the friends, passions and ambitions that I have now are the ones that truly matter to me and are worth keeping in my life.

Thankfully, that list is a long one and includes more blessings than I can count. With that in mind, I am too busy being legitimately happy to even give 2015, and the negativity of that year, a millisecond of my time.

So what does this mean for you? Simply as I stated above: Make that change -- ASAP.

For me "that change" was leaving the past in the past, but whatever you are dealing with -- whatever you have on your plate -- let that dictate what areas of your life you can adjust so nothing will stand in your way. Take it from me; change is good. It's liberating. I sincerely promise you that you won't regret being brave and finally doing the thing you have been putting off for too long.

So I wish the best of luck to all of you. I hope today is the day you will start 2016 off right and begin to become the person you truly want to be.