As the year comes to a close, I would like to do something cliché: be thankful for the past year. :)

So while you await the fireworks and I sleep them away, I would like to say my piece just before the year ends.

Oprah is always big on the gratitude memes and she encourages people to make it a point to be thankful. It has virtue in it, because after I recount how thankful I am for things, events, people, realizations, etc., in my life, I forget my pains and complaints. I realize that life is good after all, and that all in all, I am a fortunate, blessed person. I may not seem like that to some people, but the fact that there are things I can be thankful for after all makes me realize that life is truly worth looking forward to living each day. :)

So without further ado, let me start…

I am thankful for relationships. Whether it’s my relationship with God or my relationships with friends, or even my friendship with myself, I am thankful for these.

I am thankful for hot coffee and cocoa. Having a cup of coffee or cocoa sometimes ends up being the highlight of my days.

I am thankful for finally being able to understand and appreciate and long for the Bible, because before, its gems used to be so incomprehensible to me.

I am thankful for being able to weather the storms with my fiancé, and I am thankful that he finally reconciled with God and that we are gearing into a true partnership in more ways than one: true helpmates, as God intended the husband-wife bond to be.

I am thankful that I reached Manila in one piece and that I was able to survive until today.

I am thankful that I no longer need meds on a daily basis.

I am thankful for restored relationships, and for finally being given the ability to accept that some relationships are meant to stay severed.

I am thankful for the grace that God has given me in the form of kindnesses by people, and provision that had come in strange ways and strange forms.

I am thankful that some people were weeded out of my hair.

I am thankful that I can now live on so little and that my materialism is being whittled.

I am thankful that I was made to realize that perfectionism doesn’t work and that I have to cut myself some slack.

I am thankful for adequate sleep, for the weird misadventures of this year, and for being protected from evil.

I am thankful for newfound friends, for the glory of the Internet, and for opportunities that just come my way.

I am thankful for favor and for the gumption to move on. :)

Phew. I have so much more to be thankful for, and I realized that I have no need to really throw tantrums at God. Maybe I should keep doing this on a daily basis, especially when tough times come. :)

But I just have to make a wish for this new year. I have two wishes which I really hope you will agree with me that God will grant them. And that is: that I will finally be able to adequately discipline myself in terms of time and money, and that I will be able to get the hang of balancing my life; I have this habit of taking on too much and then when I hit a snag, I drop everything.

So, as 2008 draws to a close, I hope you will also realize that you have a lot to be thankful for. That life is beyond the US elections or the mess in Palestine or the threat of terrorism. These things are serious, but there is hope. Have a glorious new year. :)

Linkie: Do one thing new every day in 2008

(Photo Source: iStock Photo)

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