I don't know about you and yours, but myself and others that I know have had the worst year of their lives. In 2016, if anything awful was a possibility, it happened swiftly and with shock and awe. This included, for my family, my mother dying of cancer, our home burning down to the ground not even a week later, and surviving for almost 2 full months living in a hotel with 2 dogs and 4 children while insurance was sorted out. This in addition to the day to day mini-disasters that seemed to occur just when we thought it was safe to relax. Sadly, even we were not served the brunt of this evil year as some others were.
I often wonder how it is that so many people from various places and backgrounds can agree so wholeheartedly on what a disaster this year has been. It's obviously some anomaly out in the universe that has caused this shit storm, right? Perhaps, some alien curse laid upon the earth to bring us to reckon for whatever they see unfit in our humanity. Whatever came to be as 2016 rolled in the door, it certainly succeeded in ensuring that this year will not soon be forgotten on a very personal level for many people around the world. But, will 2017 be any easier or hope filled?
It has been said that if we do not understand our past, we are doomed to repeat it. Some occurrences, such as my mother dying at age 65, never having successfully chased any of her dreams or accomplished any of her goals, are lessons to apply to life as a whole. I learned in the most stinging of ways that, while it's lovely to be a dreamer, it's heartbreaking to live an entire life unfulfilled because of the whims of others.
I also learned that a 100 year old home burns faster than you can even imagine but, somehow, it occurs in slow motion. There is simply nothing more humbling than be completely powerless to stop something. This taught me that nothing will ever surpass the importance of my children and their smiles can mend a broken heart almost instantly. I do not grieve the loss of the home, nor the things that it contained...it could have ended so much worse. I can look back and see it now as a means to a new beginning even though we did not choose to begin again.
Perhaps that is what 2016 was about, the means to a new beginning. A hard stop to comfortable, and a huge shove towards decisions we would have never otherwise have been faced with. I have hope for the new year. Even as easy as it would be to quietly close the door to any new changes, any complications, and to ignore the dreams and the struggles alike, I plan to seek them out and make them my bitch for 2017. I hope you feel the same and I wish you and yours a very happy New Year!