When you get a few minutes, pop over to Ro's blog and read her two part post on getting brave. She recounts her personal struggles over the past five years and how she not only got through it all, but came out the other side much stronger for it. I really found it to be inspiring and a great read today especially when we are putting 2010 in our memory boxes and welcoming in 2011.
2010 was a cataclysmic year for me and my family. Of course my father died on December 28th, 2009 but I consider it a 2010 "event". My father in law died on November 6, 2010, my sister in law Lisa's mom died in March. Those losses have totally changed our lives.
But my grand daughter Maddie was born this year on May 4th. She is a wonderful baby and absolutely a blessing. My niece Melissa started law school and I am so proud of her I could burst! My daughter and her husband survived a rocky time in their marriage... these things have just as much value as the losses we've experienced.
Financially it's been a tough year. One of the toughest I have lived through in many many years. But we are still here. We still have our office, our home, our vehicles, our motorhome.... we still have out STUFF. I guess that in and of itself says something.
But the greatest thing that happened this year is the confirmation of what I have always believed... the STUFF does not really matter. Yes, it's great to have! It's wonderful to be able to go online or go to a store and buy everything you want. It's what I'm used to! But you know what? I could not do it this year and it's OK!! I didn't shrivel up and die, I didn't lose any friends over it (yes, believe it or not that happens!), I didn't have to make any life altering changes in my life (although I will admit that I missed not receiving boxes of goodies every darn day!). At the end of the day I realized that as long as I have a little space of my own to breath in (that would be my studio) and nobody in a hospital or morgue... then everything else is good.
I am also looking forward to our Keys 4 Art retreat in March! Julie Nutting and Ingrid Dijkers will be teaching workshops which I am very excited about. But the most exciting thing is that I will see "my girls"!!! We had a wonderful retreat last year and this year promises to be even better (albeit much more hectic!!!).
I am also booked and paid up on Tim's September cruise for 2011.
So.... goodbye 2010 and HELLO 2011!! I hope that 2011 brings you all health and happiness but mostly peace. It's been a turbulent 2010... many of us have undergone extreme changes... some for the good... some, well, not so much. But the one things I wish for you is PEACE. Peace in your soul, peace in your life and peace with yourself - with whatever decisions and consequences you face along the way.
My word of intent for 2011 is BREATHE. That pretty much sums up everything I feel for the coming year. I just want to breathe. To breathe through the good and the bad that comes with this new year... to breathe when it feels like there is no oxygen left in my life. Just breathe.
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