A Year, Lost and Found

A friend, writing about the highlights of 2015, inspired me to write a post. I have felt the year slipping by me, almost since it began. I felt it was a wash. Writing always brings me back to a more mindful state. This morning is no exception. I follow the Chinese lunar calendar, so today, November 18, is an auspicious day to move forward. On that note here are my highlights for 2015.

-The early months of this year were unproductive in terms of professional writing. I did not manage to monetize my blog. The legal document processing business also suffered.
-January and February were physically draining. Arthritis and cold, dreary, weather do not mix well. I was, frankly, racked with pain, and living as a virtual recluse.
-Spring never came to Denver. It rained, man, it rained.
-One daughter is making a splash in her career. She has exceeded sales benchmarks, to be awarded as a Pacesetter and Silver Pacesetter by her employer. She is destined for management.
-Another daughter is changing her life and career, devoting herself to painting, rather than design, a tough transition.
-My son made enormous strides in his life. He is working on a degree, maintaining a 4.0 average in college. He has an apartment and his own truck. He makes time for me, shares his stories and his strength.
- Received an invitation to enter a prototype for a new publication in The Knight Foundation's innovative journalism category. My prototype, one of 800 entries, did not win, but generated a second invitation.
-Summer came and went in a flash. I took on two pro bono legal document challenges, a blizzard of paperwork. Both people both got off the hook for serious financial penalties. One dodged an impossible deadline.
-One takeaway for the year is to choose the mountain! Death on some mountains is, not merely painful; it is a waste.
-My year has also been marked by family divisiveness. We seem destined to remain a rigid, contentious and unforgiving bunch! My daughter complimented me for having the ability to write people "carte blanche." No, it is simply that I have learned the hard way all it takes to truly reconcile.
-Still striving for better answers to chronic inflammatory disease, to share with blog readers. In the process I've discovered a world of information and some very compassionate people.
-November's national and international news has been particularly grim. The dreadful, events in Paris, were personal. I lost track of a close friend. The day after the terrorist attacks, I was relieved and grateful to find him, safe and sound.

Prayer, desperate prayer, seems so simple, but it’s a step rarely taken by those in family conflict. ~Erwin W. Lutzer, When You've Been Wronged: Moving From Bitterness to Forgiveness

Finally I am so grateful to my family and close friends for their love and generosity, for shining a light in dark times. Our lives seem to be forever marked by violence. Terror has cast a long shadow everywhere in the world. Cruelty and brutality are the order of the day. It is that time when we need the voices of sanity and compassion.