The holidays are an intense time of year for many. The parties, the last minute shopping, the over indulgence combined with the end of a year and the promise of a new one make it an emotional time for many. If you’re lucky, memories of Christmas’ past will bring feelings of warmth and love, but for some, Christmas can be a lonely time of year, of reflecting on what might have been or missed opportunities.

I am an introspective person, and sometimes to a fault, so the holidays can be tough for me. As someone that has, up to this point, maybe been a little bit too hard on himself, as the end of the year approaches, I sometimes have felt that I haven’t done all the things that I wanted to do or I’m not exactly where I have wanted to be.

But this year, I felt differently. I love listening to Christmas songs and there was a distinct moment when listening to Nat King Cole’s version of “The Christmas Song” (which I find terribly melancholy), that I realized I was doing alright. In fact, I was better than alright. I was happy.

I set out my year in the desert and sun of Palm Springs, with a resolve to make 2011 a time when I committed to doing what truly made me happy. I promised to live a life where I focussed on being less in my mind, and more from my heart, using it as my guide. I wanted to ponder less and act more, to live with passion and to focus on love. And most importantly, I strived to be as authentic as possible.

This might be obvious to some, but this is the lesson that I learned this year — some might call it intuition, others might call it your gut, but I think that if you really listen to and follow your heart, it will not let you down. My life is by no means perfect, and there was still heartache and disappointment. As I sit here in this coffee shop reflecting on the goals that I set for myself in 2011, there are still many that are marked as incomplete or in progress. But that is okay because there are so many things that I did accomplish plus more, and well, I have another chance to work towards the other goals in 2012. I am grateful.

So I enter the new year with the promise of continuing steadily and surely on this path, with peace of mind, a smile on my face, and a warm heart. I’m not sure exactly where I’ll be at the end of 2012, but I know that I am fully equipped with the roadmap for a happy me.