The New Year

Happy New Year. Saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new. For me, it is continuing the blessings I have had in the years before. I think about resolutions and I can only make one. To have 12 blogs this year. I am even going to set a reminder on my outlook so I can do it.

A friend had this poem posted on a site and I have been reading it all day. I get it - as a woman I truly get what it is saying and I wanted to put it here so I can get it all year long. I want to learn that I am in charge of my own happiness and I should depend on no one to bring it to me.

After A While

After a while you learn

The subtle difference between

Holding a hand and chaining a soul,

And you learn that love doesn't mean leaning

And company doesn't mean security.

And you begin to learn

That kisses aren't contracts

And presents aren't promises,
And you begin to accept your defeats

With your head up and your eyes ahead

With the grace of a woman

Not the grief of a child

And you learn

To build all your roads on today

Because tomorrow's ground is

Too uncertain for plans

And futures have a way

Of falling down in mid-flight

After a while you learn

That even sunshine burns if you get too much.
So you plant your garden

And decorate your own soul

Instead of waiting

For someone to bring you flowers

And you learn

That you really can endure

That you really are strong

And you really do have worth

And you learn and learn
With every good-bye you learn.

-Veronica A. Shoffstall