As we close the year, I choose to do it in a spirit of positivity. It has been quite a year for me, and I have had many challenges. I have had to overcome physical, mental, and medical challenges this year that I did not foresee. I also did not foresee all the help, love, and friendship that my family, friends and colleagues would bring to me when I needed it most. When I could not drive, my husband drove me where I needed to go. When cataracts made my eyesight milky, there were new lenses to replace the ones I was born with. When I had trouble walking, there was my doctor and my physical therapist to show me how to revitalize my muscles and get a lot of motion back. When my spirit flagged, I found new meaning through my artwork and brought joy to others through it.
For 2022, I plan to take the “Alice in Wonderland” approach. I will “believe six impossible things before breakfast.” After all, believing that impossible things can (and will) happen has propelled me through most of my life.
I won’t recount all of those things, instead I will ask you, dear reader, to count up the “impossible” things that you or someone you love has done. For it is only by counting our blessings and being grateful for them that we realize how full of joy life can be. Also remember that it is in the small things, impossible or not, that we and others experience joy. An unexpected smile, the touch of a comforting hand, the sight of a beautiful piece of art, laughing with friends… I could go on and on, but you get the picture.
2022 will bring many new things to all of us. Some good, some bad. But I have learned over these last couple of years that the problems in my life are not a bad thing. As we say in the software world, it’s a feature, not a bug. Our problems are there to teach us about the meaning of life and our purpose in living our lives.
So, think of those “impossible” things and then look at steps that could change them. You will be surprised at what happens next.
