GiveLoveLiveMore

As I reflect, I readily admit that 2011 has been the best year of my life. *record scratches*  Whose life are we talking about here?  Okay, okay. So that’s totally not the truth.  Actually, it has been one of the toughest, grueling years I’ve ever faced: to date.  I don’t remember the last time I grew so much, relied on the love and support of my friends and family, in all of my life.  It indeed has been a challenging year, but as Frederick Douglass put it, “With out struggle, there is no progress.”

I have really appreciated my friends (old and new), who have helped me so much this year.  I am indebted to them always for keeping me going with a kind word, a phone call or a quick text.  They [my friends] have no clue: Some days, they were saving my life (literally).  This year has shown me that I’m weak, but GOD is strong.  I also found that things happen for a reason, no matter how hard the lesson can be.  No matter how old I get, I can still be awed at HIS power.  This year, I lost some people in my life; some I wanted to stay, others that had to leave.  It’s okay though, because I’m still standing.  Things happened to me this year that broke me down, with my towel in hand to cast it aside, but I was being remade by the “potter”…..and this time, he has made me stronger than before.

2011 can be summed up in a plethora words: broken, emasculated, depressed, suicidal, ashamed, down-trodden, liberated, healed, contrite, restored, grateful, fortunate, awed and DELIVERED.  No matter how long things have gone a certain way, they can always change in an instant.  I am still here because of LOVE.  That’s the bottom line.

As I close this blog, let me remind you to hold on closely to those you love the most, be kind to others (no matter how they treat you), and remember to: Give more.  Love more.  Live more.  I sure will.

Here’s to 2011: I rode that rickety, wooden roller coaster, and vowed never to ride it again.  And I won’t.