2011:

It is the day before New Year's Eve, and I just began reflecting on the past year... Where I was 365 days ago, everything that has transpired in that time, my current mindset, and of course where I think that 2012 will take me. Better late than never, yes? Here are some highlights of that session of introspective evaluation:

Early in the year I lost my job. I was devastated at the time. I realize now that it was less of a job and more like a nasty parasite that had taken over every minute of my time, stripped me of my sanity, and then left gaping holes where it had been (which was everywhere) when all was said and done. I was professionally purposeless and monetarily broke. I spent quite some time like a wide-eyed doe that looks for the hunter around every corner, believing that in any moment she may be shot down again. I felt as if I was hanging by the smallest of threads mentally.

Since then I have slowly filled those spaces with the adventure that I have been in search of all this time. I have honed my skills of independence. I found the reward in taking a huge risk (i.e. moving clear across the country on a whim and a prayer) and have reveled in it. I abandoned my crippling anxiety and my predisposition towards hopelessness, and then I embraced content in a whole new way. I have nurtured a budding relationship into one that embodies the term "partnership" in it's truest of forms and in the process learned to love and to be loved unconditionally or without doubt, despite all of my preconceived notions.

In short, I am living life how I had always wanted.

So here's to growth, to making big changes when big changes are due, to happiness, to never settling for anything other than what you truly want, to love, and most importantly, to continuing the trend in the coming year!

[Photo of a recent trip to San Diego.]