“There will be things in life that one must do that are bittersweet but remember it is sometimes necessary to experience the bitter before you can truly appreciate the sweet.” Michele DeVille
With another Christmas behind us and a new year quickly approaching I have been in a reflective mood and I must admit I will be more than happy to close out 2011 and welcome in 2012. It seems that every year I find myself anxious for the new year and every year I welcome it with faith and hope that it will be a year of new beginnings and my best year yet. As with any year there is much to be grateful for but there are also many things I would like to put behind me and would certainly change if I could. With that being said, I also know that without the rain there would be no sunshine and as I wrote in the quote above, “it is sometimes necessary to experience the bitter before you can truly appreciate the sweet”.
While much of what we do in life comes down to the choices we make it does not always make it easier when we are faced with tough decisions, consequences or change. So much of what we must face is often bittersweet and yet I have come to believe that we can’t truly have one without the other. There are truly two sides to every coin and so much of what we must experience in life brings the gift of polarity and it is a complex part of our existence.
As I look back on 2011 there are things I regret and would do different but I cannot change the past and as with anything in life there is wisdom and valuable lessons in most everything we do and in most experiences we have. If we are truly open to learning from ALL of our life experiences whether good or bad, our lives can become enriched in ways we never dreamed possible. Mistakes don’t always have to be a bad thing for we can learn so much from our mistakes and in the end become better people and live better lives. Experiences whether good or bad are here to enrich us, change us, touch us, humble us and teach us. A new year is in part a time for new beginnings, a chance to enhance what was working well and change those things that were not. It is a chance to forgive, make things right and do things better. The new year is an opportunity to become the person you have always wanted to be.
So as I write this last week of 2011 I am reminded that is is sometimes necessary to walk in darkness so that one can finally see the light and that there are times when one must lose everything to finally appreciate what they once had. I have learned that it is sometimes because of an illness that one finally learns to value and protect their health and that it can take losing someone we love to finally love them for who they were. I understand that sometimes we do bad things and make mistakes so that we can finally love ourselves enough to learn from those mistakes and live life doing good. I have been reminded that happiness never feels better until one has been sad and in despair and that it is sometimes because of the storms that the sun shines brighter than ever before. I know that there are times when we must close a door so we know when to open another, that we must sometimes fall so we can learn to truly stand and that we must sometimes follow so that we can eventually lead and it is when we learn to finally let go that we are finally ready when the time comes to hang on. I have learned that one must sometimes feel fear to discover just how strong they have become and that it is sometimes necessary to face the ugly side of ourselves to finally “see” just how beautiful we really are.
Yes the journey can be filled with bitter and sweet but as you celebrate another New Years Eve and welcome in 2012 stop for a moment and look deep within. Reflect and try to see both sides of the coin to all you have experienced this past year and to who you are. In the movie “The Tourist” the character Elise is wearing a bracelet with the two headed God Janus and she says, “…people have two sides a good side, a bad side, a past a future and that we must embrace both in someone we love”. This is so true and my hope is that we can all embrace this thought for those we love and more importantly for ourselves. Embrace and love ALL of who you are in 2012 and let ALL of your experiences both good and bad in 2011 bring you wisdom and one step closer to living true to your heart and the extraordinary life you want and deserve!
In Peace -
Michele
