Sunday, December 30, 2007

.....to one and all

In less than 48 hours it's going to be the year 2008. Where has our time flown? I remember being told as a kid that the older I got the quicker time would pass and all I can say about that now is "they weren't kidding!"

For too long I remember hearing in my family that "maybe this year will be better." The events of every year that cause us heartache are what we look back on in hopes that the coming year will not be as mean to us as the current year has been. It seems as if we're always searching for personal peace; not necessarily perfection, but a little peace.

The year that grandma died - horrific!
The year the cancer was discovered in him - horrendous!
The war in the Middle East - earth shattering!
Kennedy's assassination - unthinkable!
The beginning of the HIV epidemic - felt like the beginning of the end!
The year that she lost her leg to Diabetes - not her!
The 911 attacks - unfathomable!
Bush's re-election - mind boggling!
The year the operation was a success but she died - crushing!
The years of those deadly auto accidents - Diana and Grace are dead!
The Lindbergh baby - "Lucky Lindy?" - despicable!
The hurricanes and tsunamis - why!
The tornado's and floods - why!
The earthquakes and fires - why!

Why, why why indeed; can anyone tell me why....you can not!

These are just the tip of the iceberg when discussing personal as well as global disasters and all recall different memories for different people, but might these be outweighed by the good that is much easier to forget? Is there a reason why we can remember the horrendous so vividly and almost choose not to forget, yet the many good things are often filed where they are harder to pull? History for the most part is a record of the shit.

I'm sure there may be some of us who find it extremely difficult to remember the good in our lives, the global good, but if we look hard enough we can see it everywhere, everyday intertwined between all of the heartache. Of course we want the bad to stop, not to show it's ugly face again, but I don't think that there will ever be a time in any ones life when horror isn't a part of it; I see personal tragedies daily.

For a moment let's try to concentrate on the goodness we have felt, the happiness we have seen, no matter how minute or fleeting. The storms in our lives and in this world will always be there for us if we want to remember them, but to hell with them, let's think of the rainbows!

The year she was born with a heart malformation - but made it!
The year I was spared from accidental death - that was good!
The year we fell in love - blissful!
The year, month, week, day we went to work - we have a job!
Cutting coupons - we can afford a paper and to be able to use the coupons!
The year the cancer went into remission - wonderful!
The end of any war or conflict - finally!
The year the grandchild was born - joyous!
The time you gave a penny to the poor - heartwarming!
The time you helped that person you didn't even know - uplifting!
The year you were published - recognition!
The year you began recovery - clean at last!
The year you began menopause - no more freaking period!
The time you found someone special in your life - heavenly!
Eating a ton of chocolate - euphoric!

Non of these are earth shaking moments, in fact some are downright mundane but they sure make the rest of the crap around us momentarily seem to disappear. We, I, need to remember these times more often, forget the bad more often, uplift myself more often! We've all heard "life is what you make it" but in reality we don't have much control over how we make our lives. We all just live while life happens all around us, to us. What we do have control over however is what we choose to remember. Even if it takes writing down the good things as they happen to or around us and keeping a list so that when the bad pops up we can refer back to that list and smile a bit.

Now that I've finished, I will step down from my beloved soapbox (which I so dearly love) and begin my list of "the good" for the coming year. As something that I feel good about happens I will add it to my list and conversely when something bad happens I will try to strike it from my memory. After all, what good does it do to remember the bad?

So in closing, I wish you all a Happy & Healthy New Year and wish that all of the good that happened this past year comes back to you again and again! And the bad? I hope you can forget it! As for me, I got an unexpected day off from work today and it will be entry number two, after my newest friends!

1 comment:

MedStudentWife said...

All the best to you too, DS,in 2008 :D