This last week I've been busy dealing with a lot of loose ends from 2009. To do that I've had to spend so much time remembering that it feels like I've walked backwards into this new year!
So, I'm starting 2010 with Old Year Revelations rather than New Year Resolutions. ;-)
2009 certainly was a busy year, even a bit crazy. I had a book published. Hubby was retrenched. We had two bad tyre punctures... both on Friday 13th on two separate months! I finally had surgery for my hernia. Some people I knew died and some fought off illnesses. Some had babies, some didn't. Some lost their jobs... some found new jobs.
I lost old friends and gained new friends. I even found long-lost friends and made a few new enemies, but most of all - I found out a lot about of myself along the way.
I found out I was stronger than I thought, as well as more vulnerable than I wanted to admit to. I found out I cared far more about writing and being a writer than I'd even admitted to myself.
My health troubles finally made me realise that I can't function properly if I don't take care of myself first. So, last year I learnt that being self-loving isn't the same as being selfish. I learnt that it really is okay to say, "No. I don't want to do this."
No wonder God said, Love others as you love yourself.
I learnt that life is too short to stay mad and way too short to waste time or words on people who don't care about you or don't hear you.
I learnt I have fantastic friends and wonderful loved ones... which I already knew, but always love to be reminded of! :-)
I learnt that even the bad years come with blessing, but I still hope that this new year brings us all more rainbows and less storms.
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I've read that I should think before I print...to save paper, ink, etc.
ReplyDeleteWell, I've thought about it and I want to print this post to paste it in my journal.
So much of it appeals / applies to me.
Yes, it really is not only OK, but necessary, to love yourself. Well written, Michelle. Wishing you all the best in this new year.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder God said, Love others as you love yourself.
ReplyDeleteI get that, I really do. We're so busy expecting people to love us the way WE want to be loved, we're not paying attention to how THEY love us. On top of it, we don't even love ourselves quite enough, do we? I think a lot of disappointments would be averted and relationships salvaged if we remembered this.
Congratulations on getting your book published.
ReplyDeleteI'm pleased to have added you to my blog roll in 2009.
Well it's good to hear your year wasn't so bad; perhaps the new decade will bring more fortune and happiness your way.
ReplyDeleteStick with those resolutions, kid, and you'll never be without friends.
My goodness! I haven't been here for how long already? A decade?! LOL!! Hope you still remember me he he...
ReplyDeleteIt's great that you've listed down the events in your life, at least I have the idea on what's been going on in your life.
Congrats on the book! Sorry to hear about all the bad things, though, but like you said, it has somehow helped you to discover your strength. :-)
I've lost touch with some old blogger friends and now I really wish to get re-connected. :-)
Anyway, hope this New Year brings in more good things to you and family, Michelle.
Great post Michelle, I too realised that I am a lot stronger than I thought I was. Lost some friends as well as making some new ones.
ReplyDeleteAll the best for 2010,
LOVE this post. I think the one that spoke the most to me is this sentence: "I learnt that life is too short to stay mad and way too short to waste time or words on people who don't care about you or don't hear you."
ReplyDeleteI'm struggling with this (I know that your context may be different than mine)...in a way I feel this "weird need" to let people know how I feel (and how some others may feel about a certain topic - you probably know what I mean by the notes I've written in Facebook) but in another way, I feel that it's a lost cause 'coz people may not care about such a thing. But again, does it mean I shouldn't try at all to at least spread an awareness?
One friend told me that I should probably stop "defending" my stance and what I feel/think, esp. those who don't care or don't hear me...but I still have this glimpse of hope that maybe someone out there is listening (someone I don't know)...hmmm...or maybe I'm just silly for having this glimpse of hope...now I'm rambling he he...
Enough for now...cheers for rainbows! :-D
Guyana-Gyal
ReplyDeleteI'm honoured. Seriously.
take a big (((hug)))
and best New Year wishes to you!
Hi Daisy
Best new year wishes back to you too. :-)
Ann
You added even deeper thoughts than I'd had when I wrote that about love. I especially like this, "I think a lot of disappointments would be averted and relationships salvaged if we remembered this."
Hi Travis
Thank you for the congrats and thank you for the compliment. I'm very glad I met you last year too. You and Ann are two of the new blog friends I count myself lucky to have met last year. :-)
... now go buy my book! :-D
Derik
:-) Thank you. Sending you a ((hug)) from Scotland.
Hi Choc Mint Girl!
I've wondered how you were. :-) Of course I still remember you! :-P LOL
How have you been? I haven't been near your blog in ages. I just reached a stage of so much and so many blogs that I probably only get to everyone's blog once a year... well, almost that bad.
Best new year wishes to you and I'll try to pop by your blog... more often htan once a year. ;-)
Hi Bill
Thank you. You too, eh? It was a strange year. I hope this one brings us all more peace.
Amel
Oh I do understand the weird need to say your bit. I don't think it is weird. I mean... if you feel you have words you need to speak - they are your words and it doesn't matter if the whole planet thinks you're weird for saying them because maybe the only person who needs to hear them said out loud... is you.
Sometimes we all just need to feel we are heard. Don't know if that makes any sense, but it's what I feel.
(((BIG HUG)))
Hey, THANKS for sharing your POV! I TRULY appreciate it. :-)))) You're right that sometimes I just want to feel that we are heard. That's exactly what I felt he he...
ReplyDeleteHUGSSSS back and I have some surprise coming up, but I'll only write about it after everything is done. :-D
Well done! I've been struggling to do a summing up of the decade or the year or something, but I just can't wrap my arms around it. Still.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to keep in mind that loving myself isn't the same as indulging myself. ;P
Hi Amel
ReplyDeleteA surprise? :-)) A nice one, I hope!
Hi Hayden
Glory... wasn't it a weird year in an even weirder decade?
We should do a minimalist blog meme... sum up the decade in one word or one sentence. Wouldn't that be a challenge? ;-)