December 31, 2011

BE DETERMINED TO MAKE 2012 THE MOST POSITIVE YEAR OF YOUR LIFE!!!

LOOKING BACK AT 2011 AND HOW MY GOAL CAME TO PASS!!!

Wow!!! I did it!!! I set a goal a year ago to make 2011 the most positive year of my life, so I started this blog! My goal was to post an inspirational saying each day for an entire year, and I am here today posting my 365th inspirational saying! This blog has changed my life in a positive way! This blog forces me to recognize all my blessings in life! So, I am challenging YOU to do the same thing in 2012! Be determined to make 2012 the most positive year of your life!!!

Let's look back at how this all started! On November 10, 2009, my husband was diagnosed with stage three stomach and esophageal cancer. He began chemotherapy treatments that year on Christmas Eve. He had major surgery which removed his entire stomach and half his esophagus on April 8, 2010. He started extensive chemotherapy and radiation treatments on July 5, 2010 which lasted for seven weeks. We travel 75 miles one way every three months for check-ups to make sure the cancer has not returned. During the entire time, my family (the 3 of us) dealt with all this on our own. Not many people came to visit, and if they did visit it was once every three or four months. So, you can see that it would have been very easy to get down and depressed and feel sorry for ourselves during this trying time, and I did. This is why I had to do something to keep focused on the positive in my life!

You are probably sitting there thinking, "Yeah, right! Like everything you went through in 2011 was positive!" Well, you are right! My family faced many struggles. My husband and I stressed about paying the medical bills that are racked up into the thousands of dollars, and this stress caused many arguments. I stressed about finding a good job, so that I could contribute to our debts. We nearly lost our home due to all the debt that has accumulated in the last few years since my husband became ill. We sat back and watched our family and friends turn a blind eye to our problems. I nearly died in a severe car accident in August. However, we had a lot of positive, fun, and memorable times in the past year.

Let's look at some of those positive experiences. My family was blessed with meeting Patrick Kinkade, the brother of the renowned artist, Thomas Kinkade! We got to spend the evening with him at an art gallery while laughing at the stories he told us about growing up with his famous brother. We were blessed with meeting several cast members from the hit t.v. show, The Dukes of Hazzard! The people we met included Catherine Bach (Daisy Duke) and James Best ( Rosco P. Coltrane). We laughed nearly every day regardless of the stresses me may have been facing. We grew closer as a family even though our family is small and only consists of the three of us. And the best positive experience of 2011 was that my husband remained cancer-free for the entire year!!!

As 2011 is coming to a close, I am actually looking forward to how 2012 is going to transform me into an even better being!!! I look at all the things I have learned this past year, and I have grown in leaps and bounds. I have learned so many valuable lessons....too many to list because it would end up with me writing a book. One thing I have learned is Let Go!!! There are things beyond our control, and there is no way we can fix certain issues in our life. We just need to Let Go and Let God deal with these situations. I have also learned that we cannot force people to like us. We may wish everyone on this precious planet will like us, but that is not reasonable, and if that is what we expect, we will be setting ourselves up for disappointments. I have learned it is essential to love a little more, laugh every day, and never take our loved ones or our time with them for granted!!! Life is a precious gift! Leave the past where it needs to be which is in the past, live for today, because we are only promised NOW!!! Focus on the people who love you and less on those who don't. Walk away from drama, because it can only exist if you allow it in your life. 

My prayer for you is that you experience a wonderful, positive year like I have done in 2011!!! God Bless everyone who took their time to read my words! May 2012 be the year that changes your life for the better!!! God Bless You!!!