Do I dare?

Do I dare even do a year in review? Isn't that what everyone is doing? reminiscing about 2008. I really don't want to review this year. Lots of good things happened and lots of not so good things happened.
The not so good things made us take stock in the good things a little more. Appreciate our family, or friends, our community and each other more. The not so good things made us closer. The not so good things made us realize we are alive, that we do have feelings. The not so good things made us open our eyes to everything around us and to not take things for granted. The not so good things made us want to better people, to recognize acts of kindness from strangers, to be thankful for the kindness of our friends in our times of need, even when we didn't know we needed it.

The not so good things tested our strength, our breaking points, our trust, our love, and our pure ability to function on little to no sleep or food.

The not so good things forced us into a "New Normal."

The not so good things were just that, not so good. But, look at all the good it did bring. Would we have grown so much? Would we have made sacrifices for each other the way we did? Would we have learned what is really important? 

 2008 can close now with many lessons learned, friendships made, friendships stronger, and love stronger. It can now open the door for us to 2009. I will gladly walk through that door with eyes wide open to new adventures in 2009.

 Who knows what 2009 can bring our way....wink! I'm ready to find out.