Happy New Year

I've been thinking about this blog post for a few days, because, well ... I'm not much for resolutions.  I spend a great deal of time reflecting and rearranging my life throughout the year in an attempt to be a better person; consequently, writing down a few quick resolutions which I will certainly break in the first two weeks of the year seems  like I set myself up for failure from the get-go.  However, I do like to take the time to look back over the last year and look forward into the next.  It gives me perspective.

Isn't it wonderful that on January 1, 2012 we didn't see all of the crazy things that would happen to us throughout the next year?  How many of us would have simply pulled the blankets up over our heads and begged to sleep through it?  Some of them were absolutely amazing, some were stressful; some brought sorrow, some brought joy.  I wouldn't have missed a single one of them, but if I'd known they were coming, I might have run away rather than deal with the growing up that occurred.

This next year has the potential to be a lot of fun for me and I look forward with excited anticipation. I know there will be all of those struggles and sorrows along the way, but I also know that as I face them and release them, they slide away, leaving me with good memories.

Over the last year, I've built some wonderful relationships, rediscovered and re-anchored old friendships; I've uncovered some wells of creativity which I was afraid had been lost and made decisions which will allow me to close books and open others.  It's been a pretty good year.  The next year promises to bring finality to some things and open doors of possibilities in other areas of my life.  What wonderful things to have happening!

I have learned that it is never to late to live a dream and make it real. I have learned that friends are always friends, no matter how much time you have together. I have learned that people really don't change all that much, but what changes is how you accept them and love them either in spite of or because of who they are. I have learned that life cycles. What was important in the past might not be now, but might again be in the future.

I have learned that tomorrow holds enormous potential, today is the time to fulfill that potential, while yesterday was the motivation to find that potential.

What will I learn next year?