Another year has come to pass... All the dreaded sorrows and the yearned joys were savored with enthusiasm and despair alike. Life or rather, fate has been kind. I've been blessed beyond all that I had anticipated. Looking back at the cards that I'd been dealt with, I wondered if moving forward would ever be possible... Now I wonder what I would have done if I hadn't pushed forward. In essence, I suppose life is a testament of our endurance and our faith in ourselves. I'm glad I didn't give up. But the credit of this perseverance is not mine to claim alone as I owe it to my family and friends. The very people who made 2010 an experience in entirety.
Trials and tribulations have always been faithful accompaniments of mine.... But far faithful yet have been my friends and family who have never left my side.
Through all those times I had never considered myself a blessed person. Until now that is. Looking back, I thank God for the wisdom I've attained from those painful times for I have to agree that there is no better teacher than experience itself. I'm stronger, wiser and (I'm hoping) a better person.
I left my family behind and I thought I had lost my biggest support system. I felt alone and abandoned. That despair prolonged for a good couple of months. I never thought things would change and my heart longed to be back home. Just when I was ready to throw in the towel, I found friends. Friends who became simply more than just friends. They became a family that my heart craved so much for. They replaced the role my family members played and more. They cared for me and I cared for them more than I had ever cared before. Being in a country where we had no family (essentially thats how I felt) we turned to each other for comfort, solace and most of all a sense of belonging.
They alleviated my longing for a family. I had found a family of my own right here in the place that I had despised so profusely for making me feel obsolete. The place that I had blamed for my desertion had ended up enriching me beyond my wildest dreams. I had found people who took me in their arms and loved me with all my faults and drawbacks... Who looked at my terrible sides and still found it in them to love me. I truly found a family. And for this very reason, I can never thank them enough and I doubt I could love them enough.
A year has flown by in their arms and I look forward to another year to bask in their love if God so graciously permits.
I count my blessings every day but today I feel as if I can't because I feel blessed beyond numbers....
