What is a life anyway? We’re born, we live a little, we die. ~ Charlotte’s Web
A hand above the water, an angel reaching for the sky, is it raining in heaven? Do they want us to cry? ~ Queen
Some roads are harder than others, some years are measured in tears instead of laughter. For so many of us – at least those that I’m lucky enough to call friend – this year has been one of those. So many have lost so much, and I don’t just mean the seemingly endless parade of well-loved performers we have said goodbye to too soon. So many have moved on from us, bright stars too soon robbed of their light. For some, any age would have been too soon.
So yes, it has been a long hard, in some cases grief ridden twelve months. And although logically we know that there were also some wonderful things to that happened this year (pandas off the endangered list springs to mind), it is so easy to think that the world has simply gone mad, and it is determined to take all of us with it.
We could so easily lose ourselves in that as this year barrels towards its conclusion. But it does remain important to remember that among the sours there have been sweets.
This year has brought me new journeys that at times I was curious to see if I would survive, but those challenges have left me with a stronger sense of self, 2016 knocked me down flat and then forced me to find the tools I needed to crawl may way back to reality. A reality that I chose, that I molded, and that I will accept. The last twelve months have taught me just how worthy I am, and just how loudly I can roar.
And so while I will be right there with so many others, screaming goodbye to this year’s rollercoaster at the top of my lungs – I will also, still be grateful for those lessons, for that progress.
Because what is a life anyway? Just taking things day by day, and lesson by lesson…and no one is harder to teach than a student who already ‘knows’ everything.
Wishing you all a blessed and joyous 2017