Wednesday, January 1, 2014

New Year

With each passing year, it’s a time to reflect. A time to think about what had led you to this point. A time to think about what you would like to change. A time to let go of the past and embrace the future. A time for new beginnings.

2013 has been a year of loss and gain, a time of pain and joy, a time of tears and laughter. It has had its ups and downs. The beginning of the year started out like a whirlwind. There was so much pain and anger that I wasn’t sure I wanted to see what the rest of the year had in store for me.

My relationship with my daughter was tested and seemed to fail in the early part of the year. My fear of losing the relationship with her became all too real. I had a mysterious pain that developed in my back and arms which landed me in and out of the urgent care, which ended up being a vitamin D deficiency. Then I got the news of my biopsy and I had my hysterectomy and I was out of work for 7 weeks. Larissa got pregnant and had a miscarriage…with complications. Nathan barely made it into high school, for the second year in a row. Jose and I had our ups and downs with all the things we were up against.

Then the year began to turn around.  After the hysterectomy, my body was free of pre-cancerous cells. After a healthy dose of vitamin D, the pain in my body went away. Larissa is still working on getting her life together but she is once again working and I hope on the right path to some type of goal. Nathan was re-evaluated for his ADHD medications. And…Jose and I got engaged.
 
Through all these ups and downs, I have to remember that I have so much to be thankful for. I have a good job, a nice apartment, a reliable car, an amazing family, great friends and more than I need.

What I have noticed is that the more things we have and the more things we want, the more complicated life becomes and the more stressed I become.

2014 is my year to Simplify. I want to spend less time buying things and more time enjoying what I have. I want to spend less time trying to find places for things and more time getting rid of things that don’t have a place in our home. I want to spend less time trying to make everyone else happy and more time trying to make me and my family happy. I simply want to surround myself with things that make me happy and get rid of all the things that take away from my happiness.

Life is short…too short. We spend way too much of it wanting more and wanting to do more. It’s time to stop and smell the flowers. Time to spend more time with the kids. Time to really enjoy the time with my family that I have left. The past is the past, tomorrow is not promised and today is the present. It is a gift to us and that is why it’s called the present. I want to enjoy what God has given me and I don’t want to continue to take what I have for granted.

Bring on 2014 !

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