“Happy new year!”
I hear it over and over again. And yes, I say it over and over again as well. That’s just what you say to each other I guess.
But really, if happiness is the measure of whether or not the year is good, I would say that last year was a bust. In 2 weeks it will be exactly one year since I have lived at home. I was in two different hospitals plus a transitional housing unit while I tried to work out my health issues and then renovate my home to make it work for me. During that time I ended up in a power wheelchair, had to leave work, became dependent on primary support workers to get me dressed and undressed and in and out of bed, had to refinance the house to pay for the renovations, and the list goes on.
All that to say, 2018 was far from a happy year. It was full of pain and hardship.
However, there were some amazing things that did happen in 2018 that would not have happened had I not had to deal with this health stuff. I won’t go into them all here but I will say that 2018 was full of joy and love.
And as an update to those of you who have been praying and sending good thoughts regarding the house, we are very close now. We dug down and underpinned the basement, installed all brand new drywall, the flooring is in, a new staircase is in, and the front of the house has been excavated and the new picture window is in.
The basement is done.
Now all that needs to happen in order for me to get down to my basement is the elevator/lift be installed, which I have been told is a 2 to 3 day job. That should happen next week if all goes well…
To get this far, a lot of wonderful things needed to happen.
So was 2018 a happy year?
No!
Was 2018 full of wonder, joy, peace, and love?
Absolutely!
So instead of wishing people a happy new year this year, I’ve been working hard to wish people a joy, peace and love filled 2019. Those things seem far more lasting then a pursuit of an unsustainable happiness.
At least that’s my story. And I’m sticking to it.
Here’s hoping for a much less chaotic 2019.