As the final hours of 2008 tick away, I decided to write one last post this year. It's been a crazy year to be sure and I am keenly aware that for some folks it has been utterly terrible. I guess I am more blessed than most because personally it's been pretty good. I really don't have a whole lot that I could complain about.
I mean sure, I've had little afflictions and some disappointments here and there but 2008 has been a decent year for me. I lost my girls which was pretty terrible, but not completely unanticipated and, while I definitely miss them, I don't really feel overwhelmed by grief. And like most people I know I suffered some dramatic losses in the stock market but I don't really feel freaked out about that either. In fact in some ways, I'm quite pleased with how well my portfolio has held up. There's still a couple of stocks I'm right side up on. My little friends ruined my computer and I had to buy a new one when I would have rather used that money for something else and I lost a couple of files that were important to me and some pictures that weren't backed up. The pictures I really regret... The only other thing that I'm thinking didn't go my way is that I had to take on some debt to replace the roof on my house. I hate owing money! But with the weather we've had so far this winter, I am very happy to know that the roof is safe and sound.
On the upside, I have a job that I think is secure. And I work with some of the nicest people on the planet. I have friends who I love and who love me. My faith is strong. I continue to learn and explore new ideas. I'm healthier now than when the year began. My house is inching closer to being done and I have conquered a bunch of my clutter. I had a date for the first time in years and I not only lived to tell about it... but it was pretty fun!
So like most years, 2008 had some wonderful and some not so great. And isn't that something to be thankful about in and of itself? For about as long as I can remember I've heard people say they are thankful for whatever their troubles were and I never understood that. Why in the world would you be glad that unpleasant things happened to you? I think I started to grasp what they meant this year. I'd always kind of got the concept that you have to experience the dark to really know what light is... that the universe is made up of opposing forces. But I don't think I've ever seen my life challenges as good before. I don't think that I'd ever considered what purpose they serve in making me grow and become a better person by working to overcome them. Or that maybe they are uniquely suited to me. I do what other people say they would stagger and crumble under and I see them accomplish things that would be my undoing. A thought I've begun to consider is that these challenges are unique to each person. A kind of test designed by a loving Heavenly Father to help each of us develop the particular strengths we most need. And if that's the case, then I am even more blessed than I had realized before!
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