Here's To Love & Cheap Champagne.

I rang in 2008, sitting in one of my best friends basements. Raising plastic cups with cheap champagne and hugging my closest friends. Kissing good-bye the hardest year of my life and eagerly anticipating a fresh start. I awaited the new year knowing that there was more in store for me than a hardened heart and broken spirit. I knew that waiting for me on the other side of 12:00 was a year of experience and growing. I knew that Australia was awaiting my arrival in less then a month and my patience was slowly diminishing. Getting away from the current state my soul existed and breaking into a foreign place where I could be whoever I wanted. No longer would I remain tied to my circumstances, my influences, nor the calamity I was choking on.
In a country known as the ‘land down under’ I was ready to commence on my journey of self-discovery. And maybe even more than a journey you could call it my escape, my run-away, or my jailbreak. Whatever you want to call it.. it was my chance to learn how to breathe again. So off I went, a girl who lost herself in 2007. She was scared that the cement in her lungs may never allow her to breathe again. She was terrified she might fail. She was a nervous-excited for the potential in this adventure. And I say ‘she’ because the girl that left for Oz, is not the same one that returned.
Over the last year I have learnt many lessons. Lessons about life and love. I learnt that the people who matter most will always be there no matter how you hurt them or they hurt you. I learnt that I am independent and I can do things on my own. I learnt that it’s okay to be vulnerable. Life can hurt, hearts can break, messes can be made, and tears most definitely can be shed. I learnt that family doesn’t always come from blood. You have a given family, and a chosen one. I learnt that love is found in strange places and sometimes that love will make you wait. I learnt that it is important to have faith that moves mountains, but it is okay to be in your own wilderness. People let you down time and time again, but don’t let the pain bruise your heart. There is power in humbleness and forgiveness. I learnt that trying new things is fun, even if it ends up sucking! I learnt that being positive and trying to look at the sunny side of things is the better path. There is good in everyone even if it’s hard to find; there is love for loveless. It is important to recognize what you have and not take people or things for granted. I learnt that you can’t let people make you feel obligated and guilty. I learnt that you have to do what is right for you sometimes, even if other people demand different. I learnt that guilt is not a healthy feeling. I learnt that if you get to know anyone enough you can find a connection, no matter what age, race, sex, religion, lifestyle, or class. If you listen more than you talk you learn a lot. Everyone has a story and everyone is searching. I learnt that I am organized and responsible in a messy way! I learnt that I enjoy creativity and standing out, they make my heart beat. I am truly blessed. Really 2008 held a lot of lessons for me and I could continue this list for a huge duration of time, but I won’t bore you anymore. Maybe you didn’t even make it this far, but I hope that 2008 held many lessons for you and that 2009 will be full of love, lessons, laughter, tears, surprises, joy, pain, all of it. Love life, love people, because above everything else love is all we need. Cliche or not. It’s truth.