I’m not a vodka drinker…but I have to say that the Grey Goose vodka ad touched me in a special way yesterday. I often flip through the advertisements as I read my New York Times each morning. And of all ads, I was surprised to find that a vodka ad caught my interest.

There were simple, yet powerful words on the page. Some of the words touched me more than others…and I felt like making them my own…like toasting to those words that had special meaning to me.

Soooo, as I approach the end of my 50th year and begin to think more about my life after 50…I think I will use some of those powerful words from the Grey Goose vodka ad. Yes, I’m going to raise my glass and toast to ‘the things that matter most this holiday season’…just like the Grey Goose ad said:

To The Future (I am confident that now that my crescendo is over my future will be bright.)

To Family (I have an amazing family – beautiful and brilliant daughter, handsome and talented son, yes I did lose my husband last year, an extraordinary person in my family, but his memory will continue to live on in all our lives.)

To Possibility (I have so much potential and have to let it shine in my 50+ years.)

To Perserverance (That’s my middle name!)

To Collaboration (I know I can’t do it alone…my family and friends are my anchors…my lifelines…oh yes…and my work colleagues are too…and my hairdresser…and my hair colorist…and my massage therapist…who is a friend too…and my esthetician who gives me wonderful facials…my many doctors…my therapist…I have such a fabulous team of people to collaborate with…I may have to buy a few bottles of Grey Goose vodka to make my many new year’s toasts.)

To Selflessness (Okay, I’m only giving this half a toast…just one sip of vodka…I am going to be more selfish in my 50+ years…I have to take care of mySELF a bit more and put me first on the list so I can be a better mom, daughter, friend, co-worker, patient…to everyone else.)

To Compromise (Guess I will have to do more compromising to really live a fulfilled life in my 50+ years…otherwise I won’t be able to relax and slow down and be selfish.)

To Progress (I have to admit that I have come a long way since the beginning of 2008…I’ve also gone backwards at times, especially the past few weeks. However, these past few weeks have taught me a very important lesson. Number one that my body needs to be taken care of in a BIG way…including rest and relaxation.)

To Green (I love trees and plants…except for the crazy bamboo in my backyard that won’t stop growing…and I bought recycled grocery bags and I promise to use them more in 2009. And I will remember to water my plants too…I promise to make sure they keep growing.)

To Quiet (My son is back in the nest for the next few days and weeks…so I will toast to this word later on in the new year when the noise from the video games die down. And I’m going to try to practice my mindfulness meditation and do more yoga now that I have my new yoga blocks.)

To Fearlessness (Now that’s a word I really am going to conquer in my 50+ years. Yeah, I conquered my fear and booked my trip to Miraval…to the spa I always wanted to go to…Oprah’s favorite spa…Judi is going to Oprah’s favorite spa in January…more updates on this exciting fearless venture to come in the new year.)

To Strengthening (Another GREAT WORD…this word deserves a big toast in my life.)

To Change (I learned that change can sometimes…actually oftentimes…be painful…not fun…but I guess change is a part of life we ALL have to learn to adapt to. And I just heard on the evening news the other night that CHANGE is THE TOP WORD OF 2008…so it is very trendy right now to toast to CHANGE.)

To Reinvention (Me,me, me, me! I’ll be blogging more about my reinvention in the coming year.)

To Moving Forward…To Letting Go…To Growth (Oh sing it out, sing it loud, sing it clear…me, me, me, me!)

To Relaxing (I saved the best toast for last. Yes, to relaxing. TO RELAXING. A BIG TOAST TO RELAXING IN 2009!)

Judi

P.S. – You can send a toast at greygoose.com/toast.