perspective

A friend on facebook commented, she couldn't wait for year of the rat to be over.

Looking back over the year, it was a year of so many new experiences and milestones. Of realizing potential that was there and of trusting that that potential will manifest itself into something real.

It has marked what has been set to be the next 12 years of my life, of all the things this will include. Though not the greatest starts, more like sputtering trials, there is hope that the pieces of my life will get into gear.

A year of firsts can be an emotional rollercoaster with the newness of things elevating both the joy and tragedy of the moment. It as helped a great deal to gain perspective from people with much more experience with all of this than I have. There's something to be said about a trusting yet nonchalant voice in the midst of what at the moment was quite a personal disappointment. There are times when one doesn't need empathy, one simply needs perspective.

That all of this is not as hard or difficult or traumatizing as it may seem at the moment. It is simply a small thing. And an experience that may open the door to something greater, so stop the quibbling, get a move on, it's not an end, it's a hiccup.

There are still a few scary hurdles, no doubt. Risks to be taken. But it all seems less scary when it really isn't a setback or an end, but a means to a beginning.

Year of the Ox is coming in. A time of resolve and steadfastness. I'm looking forward to it.