The New Year

     I guess 2012 arrived and I hardly noticed. I never write resolutions for the New Year since I never follow through. It feels like I am following commands, even though they are my own.  What I do is that I review what happened in the year that ended to try make amends in the new one.

   The year 2011 was a memorable one. I had experiences that I loved, and others that I which I never have to relive. I experienced loses, pain, hurt, betrayal. I was falsely accused of things, I was degraded by some and elevated by others. I realized that some people I thought my friends weren't, and some that I never saw close were the real deal.

     One of the high moments of this year was seeing my oldest daughter graduating college. What a moment that was! I am proud to be part of something so great! We broke the cycle. I was the first generation in my family to graduate from college, and to see my daughter continue what I started gives me great me a great feeling of accomplishment. The night I went to her Senior show was another great moment. I got to know her a little better through her work, and in a different dimension. I was proud, and  that is a feeling that will last forever. Theres nothing that she could do that will erase that.

     I am happy with what I accomplished this year. I wasn't perfect, and that has never been my goal. I wasn't the best mother, the best partner, the best student, the best co-worker, but nobody could say that I didn't try the best I could. They were moments that I felt guilty for being away from my children due to work and school responsibilities. One wise professor told me, "you are providing them with a wonderful role model as they see you working so hard..." She was right,  guilt should be taken out of the equation, because what I am doing is in their best interest.

     I survived another year of school, and that was hard. I am looking forward to my last full year of schooling. I am enjoying this journey so much.

     I have a nice friend in Chicago that once told me, "if you are not going to leave a mark on your path, don't bother taking it. Make sure you are remembered." She was so right and this my goal in the New Year... I am going to make every encounter I have with people an opportunity to leave a mark, a positive one. I have  some people that have left deep marks and now that they are not around I look at that mark and it feels like I am enjoying them once more. This year I am going to love myself, and make sure that I am well nourished, so I could nurture others. I know some people may see this as arrogant or self-centered but I don't care.  Experience taught me that if I am empty I will have nothing to give. Like in the year 2011, in 2012, I will do the best I can every day and on everything I do. I am looking forward to continue to enjoy my family, friends and remember with love the ones that decided to leave me.

     My daughters gave some inspirational items this year as Christmas gifts, and those mesasges will guide me through the New Year. I got a ring with the engraving "Nothing is impossible" and I am in agreement with it. I got another ring with the engraving "Faith...Live by Faith not by Sight". Lastly I got a beautiful art item that reads, "She believed she could, so she did". All those messages speak of the way I live my life, I am driven and I willl make sure this is a wonderful year.  I will live by faith, believing that nothing is impossible and that will get me places, those places I think I believe I could get, and I will.