quarternotes

YES. That would be the perfect word for my 2011.

Change of heart. Change of mind. Change of relationships. Change of habits. NAME IT!

A good friend of mine suggested (or, I guess, persuaded) that I watch the old series "Ally McBeal" over the break. One character said, "If you think back and replay your year... If it doesn't bring you tears, either of joy or sadness, consider the year wasted." (John Cage, "These are the Days" episode 23 of season 1) It made me stop and actually think of the past year... Yeah. I really cried a lot in 2011 - tears of joy and sadness, but mostly, of pain.

2011 was like a huge whirlpool that I got suck into. I got confined in the hospital which forced me NOT to go to work for almost a month. There were a lot of backstabbing and betrayal in my circle of friends. Close colleagues became distant. I got my heart broken twice on the average. Finances weren't THAT well. Some family members had a huge fight over something simple. There were also a number of deaths in the family of close circles. Yes, I could say that these things happen every day in any year. But, these things happened to me.

On top of everything mentioned above, I could say that 2011 was a year of new opportunities. I've gained new friends, I've dated a few guys, I've stretched my abilities and discovered new passions in life. There were a lot of opportunities that came to me and I grabbed each one of them - including the ones that I knew would be risky and tough from the beginning. With each step I took the past year, I've stumbled and conquered a few times or probably a little more. I put everything at stake, took risks and whatnot. I go home almost every night tired... sometimes, I don't go home at all.

Despite 2011 being such a whirlpool, I am glad I was suck into it. God gave me  lot of things to be grateful for. I knew that each day isn't a waste. Even in my lazy days, I was able to accomplish something. Heck, even those weeks I'm on house arrest after confinement, I was rather productive! I am grateful for each day; much more grateful to the people I meet and the people I'm starting to love.

So, now I would like to neatly wrap my 2011 and begin 2012 with a smile. I can almost see the rocky and rough roads ahead, but I'm more excited to trying different ways to get through them. I have changed over the past year, and I'm still capable of changing... I can't wait to meet the new "me."

CHEERS!