Gazing back, looking forward

As I sit here on New Year's eve and gaze back on 2011, I am not too surprised to see that it was much like any other year - it had its ups and downs, its highs and lows, and it passed much too quickly.  However, this year I think I can safely say that there was something a little different about it, too.  I've been trying to find the right words to explain it all week but have been spectacularly unsuccessful.  I guess it can be summed up simply by saying that it feels like I have grown and matured more in the past year than I have in the last two decades... or so it seems to me.

Quite unintentionally, I embarked on a spiritual journey about a year and a half ago, and the places it has taken me I could never have predicted: I've met a whole host of new and interesting people, people who've opened me up to many new experiences; I have tried a lot of different things like yoga, meditation, and guided visualization; I have done things that I would never have attempted before like starting - and maintaining - this blog; and I have read more books in the last twelve months than I ever have in one year before.  All this has changed me and helped me see more deeply into myself and the world around me.  I have gained a better appreciation for the people I love and have understood the importance of keeping them close.  It has been quite a ride and I am happy to say that it is just the beginning.

And so it is with some excitement that I look forward to 2012.  Since I do not like to make New Year's resolutions, as they only leave me feeling badly about myself when, inevitably, I cannot make them work, this year I've decided instead to create my Wish List for 2012.  It is a list of things I would like to do, or continue doing, things that either I've always wanted to do but never dared, or things that I think might be neat to try, or just continue what I've been doing that seems to be working well.  The whole idea is to avoid the pressure of resolutions but also to have something to look forward to.  It will no doubt take me a while to put it together, but once it's ready it should be a nice blueprint for the year ahead.  

I read something tonight that I've decided to use as one of my mantras for the New Year:

Replace judgement with empathy, 

upgrade complaining to gratitude 

and trade in fear for love.

To all:  May 2012 be a year of new beginnings, fresh starts, and success in all you do; may it be filled with health, happiness, and all good things; may love reign supreme in your hearts. ❥❥❥

With love, Brigitte