My Deepest Gratitude

Here we are at the close of another year. Where did the time go? There have been tears, cheers, disappointment, laughter, loss, and gain.

Though there were times when we thought we would die, we didn’t. Through it all we survived. Our Souls are still intact.

What could have been a stressful year for me has been an interesting year to say the least.

From moving into a new house, only to have it flooded and a barrage of construction workers making more damage for new workers to fix; hotel hopping while the damage was repaired; and all in the middle of writing a screenplay, blogging and spending time with my Soul counterpart who I am not supposed to mention here, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

If I knew what the year would consist of at the beginning of the year, I may have backed out before I started, but then I would have missed the lessons, not to mention the experience of going through them.

Through it all, I never once got sick, or harmed in any way, or was really put in dire straits. I didn’t come across anything I couldn’t handle.

Want to know why? Because I never lost gratitude for living. If we have gratitude for the pleasant and unpleasant situations, then we can handle anything. Anything.

Gratitude protects us from unnecessary fallout. It opens our heart to accept our fate.

So how was your year? Are you exhausted? What did you learn? What would you do differently? Any regrets? Anything you wish you could have done, but the opportunity didn’t arrive?

Isn’t it funny how we can look back on the year and say,”Did I really do that?” or “I can’t believe I made it through.”

While the desire to fulfill resolutions rarely pan out, they still make us want to refine our lives, to perfect them as much as possible, to perfect the way we feel about them, to perfect the fleeting moment.

Speaking of perfecting the moment, I want to thank you all for sharing a part of your lives with me in 2007. You have offered tremendous feedback, great conversation streams - a genuine part of your Soul that holds your deepest feelings.

I feel that we have shared things with each other that we don’t share with our closest friends, relatives, or priests.

I am privileged and grateful to know each and every one of you and to know your inner workings. You are all outstanding bloggers who can certainly spin a provocative post out of an idea - and make it so moving that it stands out.

Blogging is phenomenal. A catalyst for human consumption. We consume it by the page loads and it reaches us on a very profound level. It stays with us, it mutates our feelings, perception, outlook and insight.

Here’s to a healthy and happy New Year of dreams being fulfilled, rejuvenation of spirit, a renewal of vibrancy, peaceful blessings and most important, love.

Feel love, give love, be love, live love, spread love, love, love.

May your ‘To Do’ list being shortened and your ‘I Did’ list being so long that it’s never ending.

Happy 2008!

May it be terrifically memorable and awe-inspiring.

Like my favorite line from the musical Rent.

“Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?

In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights
In cups of coffee
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.

In five hundred twenty-five thousand
Six hundred minutes
How do you measure
A year in the life?
How about love? Measure in love...”