A Post About Star Wars...I Mean...New Years

Do you know that scene from Star Wars Episode III where Anakin and Obi Wan are fighting in that fiery lava pit? Yeah, that one where Obi Wan has basically dismembered Anakin, cutting off both his legs and one arm, and he yells to him, “But you were my brother Anakin! I loved you!” And Anakin, despite the fact that he’s missing three limbs and is lying in a pile of hot coals, in no position to piss Obi Wan off any further, shouts back, “I hate you!” It’s a horrible, pain-filled, tragic scene, and you know that there is no way that anything good can come from it.

That was what 2013 felt like.

Let’s just let that sink in for a moment.

Got it?

Good.

I don’t think I’ve ever looked forward to a new year as much as I am looking forward to 2014. I am just praying for a better year. If you know me at all or have been following my blog, then you’ve probably got a pretty good idea of what’s been happening, so I won’t rehash. What I will do, though, in the spirit of not being a complete Debbie Downer, is that I will tell you what I learned and what I gained through 2013:

·         A degree in English

·         A career using my degree

·         Ballet training

·         The knowledge of how not to “cast my pearls before swine,” as the Bible says

·         A much greater appreciation for my three best friends and the realization that so few people ever have even one friendship that is as strong as the friendships the four of us girls share together

·         The ability to discern a real friend from a fake one who is only trying to use me

·         The knowledge that I am much stronger than I ever realized

·         A new understanding of loyalty

·         The ability to not base my happiness off of another person’s opinion

·         Encouragement straight from God

·         A renewed faith in humanity after perfect strangers paid for my dinner once

·         The ability to say goodbye to harmful influences in my life

·         The knowledge that there still is (so much!)magic in the world

·         And the realization that I will go on living, I will keep loving even though it’s hard, and that God will never, ever desert me, even when everyone else might.

Happy New Year everyone.