Looking forward and back.........................

I have been enjoying all the new year blogs and reading people's recaps of 2007 as well as plans for 2008. Reading these has caused me to reflect on my own 2007, but before I get into that I need to tie up the twelve days of Christmas...

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true loves gave to me, a coupon good for one evening of OP care so (my) Mister and I can go out for dinner and a movie, and an additional mixing bowl for my Kitchen Aid mixer. I have been wanting one of those for a couple of years because certain recipes call for mixing one thing and then another (like beating egg whites) and it is a pain to have to transfer things from one bowl to another and then back again to combine. All in all I think I took in a pretty good haul this Christmas season. Add that to all the love in my life and I can only say that I am blessed beyond measure.

2007 was a year of amazing inner changes for me. On the outside, I am at the same weight as a year ago (this is notable as it is further confirmation that my love affair with food is ended), My hair is just a tad shorter than a year ago when I started growing it out to donate it to locks of love, and my over all health continues to be great. I am doing the same job as a year ago, and continue to be married to the same great guy (for a third marriage I think I HAD to put in this plug). With all of these outward things being the same I am no where close to being the same person that rang in 2007.

I have always been perceived as a confident person, but over the year I have gained an even greater inner peace that translates into greater confidence about everything. For the past couple of years I have been "practicing" inner peace and letting go of worry. Now I feel like those things are simply a part of my thought process and I don't have to work at or fool myself into thinking they exist.

As far as inner growth is concerned, my running also continued to serve me well in 2007. A year ago I was celebrating a victory of being able to run three miles without stopping, within a month of major surgery. Somewhere in the dead of winter the plans for a full marathon took hold of my soul and by spring I was fully committed. Crossing that finish line this past October confirmed for me that there is nothing I cannot accomplish if I put my heart and soul into it. If something day to day is hard I only have to remember the feeling I had when I saw the mile 26 sign to shrug off my doubts and finish the task.

I am starting off 2008 with significantly less income than I was bringing in at the start of 2007. I keep telling myself that maybe I should be concerned about this, but I just can't manifest worry over it. We have been riding a seesaw of income for so many years now, and not once have our needs gone unmet. I know this time will be no different. In addition to having this confidence, I am just so happy and content with my life it is hard to go down a path of negative thinking. Sure the bank account might be low right now, but I have an abundance of the important things in life; love, laughter, and an extremely supportive husband. With these things firmly established in my life it is really hard to sweat the small stuff.

Having no concrete idea of where 2008 is going to lead me I am excited beyond measure. I know I have lessons to learn and changes to accomplish. The difference this year is I am only embracing the possibility and not trying to control the circumstances. Having been a control freak for many years this is probably the biggest change of 2007. I know without a doubt that six months from now my life is going to be very different from what it is today, and I couldn't articulate one thing that will be changed. Once upon a time this would cause me to start planning and grabbing hold of whatever I could. Now I am just going to sit back and enjoy the ride, confident that my journey is going to be the best one I have ever been on. With much joy and gratitude I can only say, "whatever it brings, 2008 is going to be great!"