Well, it’s the last day of 2009. Before I head out to celebrate the New Year, I decided to spend today reminiscing about all the great, & not-so-great, experiences I had this year. I have felt hurt, sick, furious, sad, lonely, hated & confused. But, I have also felt privileged, healthy, calm, joyful, loved & enlightened. I choose to focus on the more positive experiences. But that doesn’t mean that I ignore the hardships I have experienced or try to forget about them. I will take the lessons learned from those experiences with me into 2010, but the experiences themselves will remain in the past, where they belong. I have been through many changes that have lead me to this point in my life, & I couldn’t be happier with my life. All I need to take with me into the future are knowledge, growth, happy memories & a positive outlook. I am so grateful for all of my experiences, good & not-so-good, for they have made me the person that I am today. I have learnt that life isn’t worth much if you don’t have anyone to share it with, so I am also grateful for the many amazing people I have in my life. I have learnt to surround myself with people who love me for who I am, & who help me to grow into the person that I want to be. Because of this realisation, I have been able to end the old, disempowering relationships that I had with a few people who were always bringing me down. This, while it was quite a tough thing to do, has given me more freedom than I have ever had before to be completely myself. Not only that, but eliminating that negativity from my life allowed room for new friendships to form, & old friendships to improve, with people who love & respect me for who I am. For that, I am extremely thankful. For me, the themes of 2010 are kindness, love, relationships & adventure. These are my pledges to myself: I pledge to show only kindness to myself, no matter what, from the types of food I choose to eat to the company I choose to keep. I pledge to only show kindness to others, no matter what. I pledge to show love & acceptance to every person & experience that comes my way. I pledge to spend as much time as possible with the people I love, & to always remember that life is meant to be shared. I pledge to go on as many adventures as possible, & to inject a sense of magick & adventure into everything that I do. I have set myself four goals for 2010: 1. Become a Meditation Teacher 2. Become a TESOL Teacher 3. Sell one of my own paintings 4. Travel overseas with my partner I also pledge to remember that, while it is important to me that I achieve these goals, it is not worth risking my health or my sanity. I will remember that it is okay to move at my own pace. There’s no need to rush. QUOTES FOR A NEW YEAR: "If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything." Marty McFly (Michael J Fox) in 'Back to the Future'. 'For attractive lips; speak words of kindness For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.' - Audrey Hepburn. "Freedom lies at the heart of my willingness to love everything." - Alanis Morissette "I believe that every single event in life happens in an opportunity to choose love over fear." - Oprah Winfrey Feel free to let me know what you have learnt during 2009 & what you aim to achieve in 2010, I'd love to hear it :D