Learning from the Year End Review

As I write this, it's already 2010 in parts of the world. Wow! Where did 2009 go?

I ask myself that every year, beginning right after Christmas, and then do a kind of year end review. What were the highlights? What could I have done differently? What did I learn?

This year, just doing the review was a real learning for me.

I was tempted to call this a 'lost year', in the same way that financially, the 00's were a collective lost decade for the U.S. I worked really hard, and it seemed like not much happened from all that work. Recalling Thomas Edison, I did learn a lot of ways not to accomplish my goals. If anything, I'm in a worse financial position than a year ago -- but it's not terrible, and day to day, life seems much the same. I'm living in the same house, with the same husband, who has the same job as a year ago. My health is the same. I guess I have the blog to show for the year. (And for those of you who are considering blogging, it's a terrific way to remember your year, a kind of living journal and/or scrapbook, even if no one ever reads it.) And of course, though it's hard for me to remember, other people have what they learned from my classes, or private sessions, or just our interactions. So in a way, I guess I have a lot to show for the year, it's just that it's not mine.

And then I thought about what had happened to the people around me: one was killed, several others had death threats for various reasons, one began a nasty divorce, a couple lost their homes, others were unemployed for long stretches. And those were just my friends!

So now I'm really grateful for the sameness of last year. Maybe I was protected, or maybe all that work kept the wolf from the door. I don't know. But I do know that I'm really grateful for the health that I have, the roof over my head, the food in my belly, and the friends and family around me.

So I guess what they say is true: sometimes no news really is good news!