Another year has come and gone...

I am not usually too excited about New Year's. In the past I've had high expectations for New Year's Eve celebrations and more often than not they have not lived up to all I hoped for especially when I was in my 20s. And, it didn't matter if I was single or dating someone it ended up the same, another typical night and in some cases even worse than a typical night.

Now that I am older, married, and have a couple of kids New Year's is different for me. My bah-humbug attitude about the holiday has completely changed.  I'm not really interested in dressing up in something glitzy that I can't wear any other time of year, going to a great party with my significant other and sipping on champagne until midnight. I am more interested in what it all means. 

New Year's is a time for looking back on the previous year, a time to celebrate all the wonderful, amazing moments and events that happened during the year. It is also a time for mourning the sad, tragic, challenging events that happened or are ongoing. This time of reflection gives me peace and hope for the coming year. It is in this moment right now that I am looking back at 2011 with gratitude for the year I have had. A year of new beginnings, challenges, happiness, and sorrow. I pray that I will be blessed with another year filled with more new beginnings, more challenges, more happiness and more sorrow that will continue to teach, enrich, inspire, and ground me.

Happy New Year! I wish you and yours a happy and healthy 2012!