2007 Is Gone

So here it is - 2008 - Finally! Happy New Year to you all! I welcomed 2008 with some great friends and family at the Mapledale Estates. For those of you who made the journey from either near or far, thank you for making it an incredible night! For those of you who missed it, I am certain that you were there in spirit and that many drinks were drunk in your honor :)

The common tradition is to set some resolutions, goals or aspirations for one to achieve in the succeeding year. I have never been one for following that tradition so instead I have reflected on the past year to see if this next one can be improved upon, or if some sort of lessons could be learned from the experiences of the previous year.

2007 held many ups and downs for me. It haven't had as hard a year since my Grandmother passed away in 2004 - and that year was amazing until that dreadful July. So to say that I cartwheeled into 2008 with high hopes would be more than quite accurate. So far, it's been a hard adjustment but I am determined to make this an amazing year. After all 8 is my lucky number!

Last year was filled with loss. I lost a love, a best friend, an uncle, was betrayed by people I never thought would betray me, lost some family due to drama, some sanity, a bit of my soul to my job, some mobility in my knee, lost trust and faith. In the midst of the negative however I did find more strength within myself, pushed myself to new athletic endeavours, realized the value in true friends, found out that Sergei wouldn't be around forever so I should spend every possible minute with him, found a future home for Sonia, found more unity in my dysfunctional family, found trust and faith, found love, found the need to not lose my soul to a job.

I think I found myself too deep in the trying to figure out the negative when I should have been focusing on the positive. I am always preaching to people to focus on the present - it is what's most important. Not what had happened - it's done, over with, what's necessary is to enjoy the now, soak it all in!

With that - I am going to attempt to follow my own words of wisdom (in fact they are not mine at all, but I have adopted them into my personal mantra) 2008 will be all about focusing on the present (and some future of course) and to rid my life of any drama, bad karma and negativity.