2009 Was a Test of Our Resolve

Bonjour, Today is my Birthday. This day 31 years ago my mother did her thing and now I am here. I have passed the quarter life mark and am poised to take on my 30's with a little more perspective than I thought I would. It made me think back. It's what birthday's do. Birthdays give us time for pause and reflection. And so I have been doing so. It is weird. Although there are 31 years to reflect on, it is the last year that has been so intense that I can't shake it. I think the reason is that it's not only my life that has been traumatic and insane, but many of the people who make up my life. If I put together a chart of the increase of occurrences of things like deaths, job losses, pregnancies, marriages, divorces, moves, lifestyle changes, surgeries, career changes, cutting habits, picking up habits, falling in love, falling out of love, and so on, I am certain there would be a significant increase from previous years. As I took a mental snap shot, I started to think of specific people and how they have all dealt with the unplanned shakeups in their lives. Each person had a unique way of dealing. One person took trips they had put off for years. One person decided to just breath and relaxes. One person decided to change career paths. One person decided Canada was no longer for them. As I continued to mentally article my friends I realized almost everyone has dealt with some pretty intense stuff over the last year. Stuff that can sometimes break a person. Break their strength and resolve. But it didn't. As we walk into 2010, they are still pushing, still growing and still optimistic about the days ahead. I document these things because I know I will have moments in 2010 when I think I have had enough. Been pushed aside enough. Been told no enough. And I will need something to renew my resolve and remind me that someone else somewhere is dealing with things far worse than me. And so I will use this post...every once in a while when things get bad and out of focus I will come back and be reminded I need to suck it up and love who I have, what I have and where I am going.