The Unremarkable Year - 2012

Unremarkable.

That was our year of 2012. Rather unremarkable.

The more I thought about how fitting that particular word was to describe our year, the more I found that it is very much a blessing to have an unremarkable year.

It means that we are much as we were a year ago.

We are all doing much the same that we did and have been doing for the years that preceded this one.

My adult sons and I continue to work. There have been slight variations as to what we do … but we are employed. We are paying our way. We are setting goals and aspirations as to where we hope the fruits of our labor will take us. My youngest has graduated onto high school with a new set of challenges before him. But he continues to learn and benefit from the education that is provided for him.

The place we call home remains the same ~ my middle son and his girlfriend have plans to move a house onto their farm this spring ~ but all in all our places of residence remain unchanged. The houses we live in are home to us. They provide more than shelter, warmth and safety. We are happy within our walls and are grateful to call our house … a home.

Relationships, friendships and family ties continue to grow and thrive. It has been a year where our hearts are happy and we have been surrounded by people that nourish us. We are blessed to continue to hold onto those who are near and dear to us.

We wake up each morning and our bodies continue to take us where we want and need to go. No surprises have caught us off guard as good health continues to be a blessing that we have carried with us throughout the year.

This has been a year where many people that touch my life have not had such an unremarkable year. There has been loss, heart-break, critical health issues, job loss and unstable new territory for so many that I know. Bad things have been happening to good people. What they would give … to have such a thing as an ‘unremarkable year’.

Oh … to sit in a doctor’s office and hear the words “Well … your test result is unremarkable”. I had such an experience for a minor issue that was being investigated. The word ‘unremarkable’ remained with me long after I walked out of the office.

Unremarkable.

No wonder I was having trouble coming up with a Christmas letter theme. My life is unremarkable.

At first I took issue with such a realization. I must make my life remarkable! It is time to set new goals (or at least follow through on the goals I have not yet attained)! I must dream and reach for the stars! I must make the most of the days that I have because we do not know what is around the next corner…

But to live in fear of what may lie in store … is to stop living life to the fullest.

As I walked through the days that followed, I realized just how wonderful it is to have an unremarkable year. Perhaps the highs were not so high … but on the flip side, the lows were not so low. It was a slightly hilly year, but our feet were on the ground throughout the ride.

We have had years of drama and it is always a very good feeling to come out the other side of it a little wiser, a little stronger and with compassion for those that are dealing with their own personal challenges. This year, I have sat on the sidelines with my heart aching for others.

No matter what this past year has brought you, my wish for you? An unremarkable day … or week … or more. A day where you wake up and life doesn’t throw you a curve ball that you weren’t expecting.

In the experiment called life, I feel that perhaps this year was one to call the ‘control year’. The year in which all was stable. The year to measure others against. It isn’t much to write about … but in the end? I am grateful for such a year.

2012 – The Unremarkable Year. We should all be so lucky …