Limitless

Today I am grateful for safe travels to and from Sam's wrestling tournament and that he got his first-ever varsity match. It was a 3-1 victory. I am grateful for FaceTime connections with our grandson Aaron. I am also grateful for the local eating establishments we enjoy in our community and each and every conversation I get to have with fellow BC patients. 

If you were among family and friends who received our holiday greetings this year, this is a repeat, but fitting for the last day of 2017. A poem that sums up the past year, more rife with sadness and difficulties than some years, but still plenty of hope and energy to move us into 2018.

Limitless
Gifts can be limitless in daily life; if our eyes, minds, and hearts
are open and we slow down long enough to notice.

Challenges can also be limitless, those we take on voluntarily
and those doled out by life.

Gifts can be challenging, and challenges can bring gifts.
It starts and ends with our intake and outlook.

The challenge in our daily gifts is appreciating and honoring them.
It is too easy to grow accustomed, or feel entitled.

The gift in challenges is transformation. We learn most about ourselves and
our priorities when confronted with the unexpected and unsought.
             
Gratefulness and joy shared heightens and deepens both.
Pain and grief entrusted to the compassion of others
lessens the burden of each.

Many twists and turns, peaks and valleys, gifts and challenges marked this year.

Reflecting back through the days and moments that made up the year,
our view clearly reveals the blessings of family, friends, faith and fortitude.
Strength for the challenges. Limitless gifts in living gratefully.     

(L.V.  11/17)

I often reflect on the past year as it winds down. This year of 2017 was a tough one for many I care about and for me too. The unexpected and unsought added up to much grief and concern. And yet, insights and deeper resolve also added up.

Living gratefully took the edge off the sharpest pain and provided enough energy to keep moving forward. Now, we are on the brink of moving forward into a new year, with limitless possibilities. 

What are you feeling and thinking as you reflect on 2017? 

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