I pilfered this interesting survey-thingie from beckydancer, who got it from someone else. I thought it’d be fun to do.
1. List 5 personal victories – big or small – that you experienced.
a. I acquired a car.
b. I kicked butt over last year’s sales.
c. I started this blog, and didn’t delete it in a nuke&pave when I got tired of it.
d. I got to see hubby’s dad and sister for the first time.
e. I lived a conscious life, in which I made the decision to be and feel happy. Aside from the occasional gripes, I’ve done well with that. I’ve certainly become more conscious about how I flail about.
2. List 5 precious, priceless gifts that you received from others or from the Universe.
a. Hubby and I were called to a friend’s bedside, where we watched hubby’s father figure pass away from cancer and total system failure. We had a week to prepare, and a night to witness.
b. Hubby’s former apprentice came back into his life, and subsequently mine. There have been many games of Tablero and game nights.
c. I got to see family again, at my grandmother’s funeral.
d. Andrew got to see his dad and sister again, during the same trip as c.
e. I got to work one of my favorite jobs ever, again, during December.
3. List 5 challenges that you faced and the valuable lessons you learned from them.
a. A couple of friends turned out to be douchebags, and I cut them entirely out of my life. There are still moments where I wonder what the heck happened. But I’m better without the toxicity in my life.
b. We’d known for a couple of years that hubby’s father figure was not long for this world. Hubby thought that the loss of the man would break him apart in ways he couldn’t even fathom. In the end, hubby was able to do everything he’d promised the man, we had a week to see him again, and hubby spent the entire night glued to the man’s side. Having that time with him, no matter how short, really helped the whole process. And as with other traumas hubby has suffered, I was a great balm to the soreness of those wounds both old and fresh.
c. I had the opportunity to work a permanent position at the same store I do seasonal work at. I found out that I’m not as young as I used to be, I can’t lug heavy boxes around like I used to. I have become more ruthless about getting more of hubby’s income into the bank.
d. Promises were made by others about getting hubby and I to the peninsula, and to the beach, many times this past year, but none of them ever happened. I have learned patience and temperance.
e. We acquired a car that has spent four out of the past five months sitting in our driveway, useless. Again, I have learned patience and temperance. I have also learned that perhaps this is not the car for us.
4. Set a timer for 2 minutes, and during that time brainstorm as many things as possible that you are grateful for in your life. It doesn’t matter how small or how large.
iPad, roof over head, food in belly and in fridge, shoes that fit, clothes in closet, computer that (sorta) works, cat, Facebook, the natural beauty of the area I live in, the car sometimes working, continued lack of pain from lack of gallbladder (no more sensitivity to milk and spices, yay!), roommates, hubby, hubby’s family, friends, Darby o’Gill (local Irish band), sunrises and sunsets on our panoramic balcony on Pill Hill, the possibility of snow and surprising thankfulness that car doesn’t function at the moment so that I don’t have to drive in adverse conditions haha, Youtube, Netflix, webhost, reasonable health, sunlight, having enough where it matters most.
And another survey, from the same entry via beckydancer:
1- Have you closed out your 2011 projects? What things do you not want to carry into 2012? What do you need to finish, schedule in, or simply drop in order to maintain your sanity? How important is it? WHY are you doing it and does it serve you/your family?
I need to drop the J & J thing (aforementioned douchebags), that isn’t going to be fixed anytime soon, not if I don’t wish to communicate with them at all. An olive branch was recently offered and I totally ignored it, because what they pulled, I don’t think is forgivable. I don’t need that in my life. Why it keeps coming to mind perplexes me. I look forward to leaving that friendship in the past. Let it go, Gin, let it go. *breathes in, releases*
2- Have you spent time telling the people you care for that you love them?
Reasonably. I’m still estranged from my family, though I’m happy there was no overt drama during gma’s funeral. Knowing I had a 4 hour drive in front of me, I was not invited to stay the night, though I did ask, to rest before heading back. So I pour that love into the friends and chosen family I do have.
3- Have you slowed down and caught up on your sleep?
I’m getting there. It’s amazing how many spoons you go through in a month’s retail.
4- Do you know what you want the next year to look like?
Next year will undoubtedly be better than this one. A working car, a working me, better use of my leisure time, and busier than ever with coding nerdiness.
5- Have you meditated on where you are in life and sifted through the noise to ask the important question of “Who am I?”
Not particularly. I think my actions and motivations, and minute-by-minute triumphs of my day, speak enough on that one. It’s the same reason why I don’t really ponder religion or politics, I tend to be too practical for theoretical and hypothetical discussions.
6- Have you taken on some life/health enhancing practices that you will do the next year?
Nothing extravagant. I always strive to become more self-aware, and more positive. I’m human and it is an ongoing project.
7- Did you spent enough time in nature this year? What are your plans to integrate more contact with nature for 2012?
I have been able to do very little of that. When we had access to a car, we did have occasion to go to a nature park nearby, and to the peninsula, though it borked out before we could take our long-lusted-after trip to the beach, or sight-see on said peninsula, we were in too much of a hurry to get to family and then home again, grr. *kicks car* Hopefully we’ll get that fixed in some sort of permanent way and make many more trips out of the city limits next year. Grr.
8- Have you closed out energies that no longer serve you?
I hope so. Whenever I feel the need to start ranting and raving to the wall (I speak aloud to an empty room as if I’m talking to them) regarding the J & J issue, I tell myself to either talk to them directly and stop “practicing”, or to let it go. Such rants are diminishing, though my confusion about their last actions to me will continue to pop into mind until it is resolved. I’m probably being childish in not addressing it with them directly, but I have no further need to expose myself to their lies, manipulations, or toxic ways. Obviously I have a ways to go to close out that energy and probably imagined negativity. Evidently it’s still a more sore spot than I thought. We’ll see what the next year brings.