Year In Review (2009 Edition)

Since 2009 is on the way out, I’ve been reflecting about what all I have done and experienced this year. A year that, for me, has absolutely flown by. I vividly remember writing my “Year In Review” post on this day last year through tears. That seems like it wasn’t so long ago, yet, at the same time, like a lifetime ago.

Today’s post is still an emotional one, but in a different way. I began 2009 with a great deal of hope and sadness. I’m ending it with a great deal of hope and happiness. I’d say that’s called progress, folks. Hooray for progress.

Last year I wrote this:
Years pass so quickly. Time really and truly flies by before we know it. So, do things that make you happy. Love. Be nice (yes, even when you don’t want to). Laugh and cry with your friends. Enjoy your family. Stand up for yourself. Take a vacation. Make resolutions. Take actions. Improve yourself.

And, guess what? In 2009, I have loved, been nice when I didn’t want to, laughed and cried with my friends (and alone!), enjoyed my family (even took trips with them), stood up for myself (no elaboration needed), taken several little vacations and one big one (you remember Europe, right?), made resolutions (didn’t keep most of them, but hey, I did it), taken actions and improved myself (a little…I’m still a work-in-progress).

I’m looking forward to 2010. I am excited to see what is in store for everyone I love, and for me. I already know that one of my friends is getting married. And that my brother and his wife will be having a baby. New years equal new beginnings, and today I’m feeling blessed and fortunate that I still get to experience these.

Happy New Year to all of you. Here’s to 2010….may it be a year of happiness and progress. I’ve got my fingers crossed that it will be your year.

“I was fuzzy on the details, but I knew the basic outline. I knew how I wanted to be, it was simply a question of being who I wanted to be. I thought I had had it all figured out before. I’d had the plan perfectly clear in my head. I wasn’t going to cross into thirty without the triple crown in hand: serious boyfriend, career, and great friends. It was time to accept that maybe, just maybe, I didn’t have to have it all figured out by the time I turned thirty. Maybe I could just work on me, and see what else fell into place. I was pretty sure that was otherwise known as living.” — Megan Crane (Frenemies)