This week, we have a special guest post by Sara Bailey of TheWidow.net. Sara has a heartbreaking yet empowering story of unexpectedly losing her husband at the age of 40. Left to parent two children alone, she had to figure out how to put her life back together and mend her family’s broken hearts.

Here’s what I’ve been thinking a lot about as we embark on this new year: the compounding effect.

Many of us have heard about this in regards to our finances, I’m sure. We put a sum of money into a savings or investment account and it grows exponentially over time.

I was recently at a tense meeting where two of the people have a history of offending one another. As so often happens in these situations, one of those people said a comment, which the other person misinterpreted.

I have experienced my share of strong emotions throughout my life ranging from delirious elation to down-in-the-dumps misery. For a long time, I would get swept up in my emotions and I truly believed there was no other way to deal with them than to express them.

This is our very first Christmas season in San Diego. The first of what will probably be many more. Who would have thought? I wouldn’t have even just one year ago.

It is a sad fact of life that many people hate their jobs or at least want to leave them. Discovering one’s vocation is indeed critical to one’s happiness as all humans long to make large or small contributions to the world with their unique talents and gifts.

Last Wednesday was my 35th birthday. My amazing sister-in-law and her husband agreed to babysit and James took me out to a nice French restaurant in Pacific Beach. After dinner, we rented Bird scooters and rode all over town like we were 27.

My mom gave me the best piece of advice on the first day she and my dad dropped me off at college. I had been looking forward to this day for years. I went on a dozen college tours in high school (on my own accord, not my parents’).

Decision-making is one of my great interests. I even teach an online class on it here. Not surprisingly, the reason why I got into this was because I myself struggled with making decisions and I really, really wanted to make the right ones.