Counting My 2009 Blessings

Do you enjoy all the television shows that provide a retrospective of the year, or the specials that remind you of all the celebrities who died this past year? Didn’t we get enough of Michael Jackson already?

As you probably guessed, I’m not a huge fan of those types of shows. What I do enjoy, however, is looking back over my own year of personal triumphs and reminding myself of how far I’ve come.

Think about it. You have a choice, you know. You can look back at the past year and be all glum and gloomy about it and think about things you didn’t do or people you loved who died or the fact that you lost your job or business was awful. I’m sure at least some of my readers can commiserate here! 2009 was a tough year for many people, no doubt about it. Health challenges, job losses, lousy economy, scary news stories, all sorts of yucky stuff happened.

I lost people I loved. I’ve written about them here. But I don’t want to dwell on loss today.

We know bad stuff happened in 2009. But we can’t do a darned thing to change it, right?

And among all the yucky stuff, I’m sure something wonderful happened to you. Even in the worst years of my life there were blessings big and small. I might not have recognized them as such when they happened, but they were there all right.

Today’s I’m going to express my gratitude for the wonders that 2009 brought to my doorstep. What can you celebrate about 2009 so that you enter 2010 with an attitude of gratitude?

My 2009 Blessings

1. I resumed my magazine writing career, and published several articles, as well as an essay in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series of books. That was on my “list of things I’ve always wanted to do” and it was such a thrill to see my name in print again. It also reminded me that my original love, and my gift, is writing. I enjoy marketing – my gift to the world is writing.
2. I met people around the world through this blog and my writing, and I call them friends: Bangchik, who comments nearly once a week (I don’t know how you manage to find the time, between your family, job and your own gorgeous garden, but thank you); Keewee, Janet, Colleen, Annie and all the rest who stop by and offer a few words of encouragement; thank you, thank you.
3. My vegetable garden produced so many vegetables that we still enjoy them. What gratitude I feel that I have space to grow things again.
4. Good health for myself, my husband, my little family.
5. Hiking part of the Appalachian Trail on the peak foliage day this fall, a golden cathedral of yellow, a carpet of color. What a memorable day.
6. Continued spiritual growth and participation in my wonderful church community at St. Theresa’s.
7. Getting over my fear of playing music in public – and actually playing at church (okay, just a few notes, it can only get better from there).
8. New friends in our local community, and loving long distance relationships with old friends.
9. Facebook – what did I do before Facebook? Facebook has put me back in touch with people I loved and lost contact with 20 years ago. Elementary school friends, girls I played dolls with when I was a child, high school buddies, college friends, and the wonderful people from all my past jobs – and I can leave out the people I didn’t enjoy working with. What fun to catch up on their lives and keep up with their lives now.
10. Clients I enjoy working with. What wonderful people I have met this year. I have been blessed by my clients and I hope I am a blessing to them too.

And now, my gardening accomplishments for 2009!

• The new vegetable garden went in and was productive.
• My perennial flowers flourished, and I added my new iris varieties (one survived) to keep my goal of adding one new one each year.
• We finished the patio and the new flower beds in the back of the house.
• We expanded the number of trees, shrubs and flowers to nurture wildlife.
• We planted 460 flower bulbs to brighten the spring.
• My house plant collection grew to include Christmas cactus, plants I’ve wanted for many years but didn’t have the space or light to grow back in New York.

and the biggest gardening accomplishment….

Canning! I learned how to can my harvest. And I enjoyed canned pears and pickled peppers this week, a taste of the harvest.

Happy New Year to all!