You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby!

I love this time of the year. Christmas and all the insanity and stress it brings with it is over, and for a few days, an uncommon quiet seems to fall over life.

For me, the preparation for a new year includes reflection, appreciation, and completion of another chapter of my time here on earth. Since the day I had to let my marriage go, I have often found myself overwhelmed with the ripples of problems that battered my life because of it. Finances, loneliness, depression, and an assortment of other worries often make a person feel they are helpless against the assault. The New Year, though, seems to give me a renewed strength, and the ability to rise from the rubble of stresses and worries, and see a clearer picture of just how far I have come since that first step into a life without my partner.

I went from a hotel room, to an apartment, to a house with a sick ex, to a house of my own.

I went from a part-time job, to a full-time job, to a full-time job with twice the money and benefits.

I went from being convinced I would never be able to fall in love again, to being in love again.

It is easy to be deceived into believing your reality is not progressing forward, but hopelessly stuck in the tar pit of problems. While the forward momentum might not be felt, try to remember how it feels to fly in an airplane. There is no real sensation of movement once the pilot has reached the altitude you will be traveling in, and yet the speeds are much faster than anything we experience on land.

The wisdom of years on this earth has shown me that there is truly no way anyone stops moving in some direction in life. Either our lives are moving forward, progressing in maturity and wisdom, or they are regressing, headed in directions they are fully aware will cost them some sort of price for their foolishness.

Happy New Years, my friends!

We’ve all come a long way, Baby!!

~ Bird