Convoluted Reflections

It is the year 2012 and the world is still spinning.  The world did not self destruct in some Mayan apocalyptic calendar reset. And if you have stock piled a bunch of supplies....well... good excuse as any to throw a party I suppose.
As for most people this is a time for reflecting on the past year and making resolutions. Me?...I am not so big into resolutions as I think that we constantly need to strive to be more than we are so saving it up for one big burst is pretty much pointless. Life constantly challenges me and each time I need to decide to either accept that the universe's gauntlet has been slapped down in a direct challenge or carefully step aside. In life, we do both.
Life has dealt me some pretty big challenges this year...some new...some old.  Life has also dealt me some big blessings or gifts this year as well...some new...some old.  Sometimes it is hard to see where the challenge ends and the blessing begins and vice versa.  I guess it is just how you look at it.
Like many other people I could list everything off like life's laundry list, but what would happen if I missed someone or something? How could I explain that they or that was just as important?  I could make this blog into that yearly Christmas brag letter that some people write every year, but what would be the point?  No one likes a braggart.  Besides who am I to brag about something?  It could be that my brag moment is another person's she's a bitch moment. So what can a person do?
So what do I do about putting down those yearly reflections and resolutions that happen each year around this time....nothing. I will carry on trying to do the best that I can do regardless of the date on the calendar or what year it might be. I know that sometimes I will accept the challenge and sometimes I will chose not to, and in the end it was my choice.  I will understand that at times I will fail, and I fully expect to, and that's OK. I will understand that sometimes I will not, and to accept the victory with humility and gratitude.  I will understand that people come in all personalities, shapes and sizes and I don't have to fit into someone else' cookie cutter ideology of what a person should be. I will continue to make new friends while understanding that not everyone who enters my life is one. I will accept that life can be both a cruel and giving task master and enter into it with the reckless abandonment of one who is grateful to be alive.
To everyone who has made this past year wonderful.....you know who you are.... I  give you all a heart-felt thank you. I will keep you close to me forever and love the joy you have given to my life.  To everyone who has made this past year challenging and times painful, I thank you as well.  That's right.  I said thank you. How else am I suppose to know what not to do?  Each person that has entered my life has shaped that path I walk, lessons I have learnt and all the steps that I will take in the future. Hmm...I guess I did have some reflecting to do after all.
Come on 2012...Bring it.