First Friday of 2013!

The contestant in yellow won. All 4 times.

1) 2012’s most heartwarming moments that will inspire you on to 2013. Ellis Challis lost her hands and legs to meningitis (something else that terrifies me in its unexpectedness and destructiveness) at 16 months. Aged 5, she then challenged Olympic Semifinalist Oscar Pistorious to a race.

I love how young children know they can’t be beat.

Also, that’s Olympic Semifinalist. Not Paralympics Semifinalist. Us with the legs. Yes, us. He makes our legs look like our handicap to achieving greatness.

–

–

This just a happy husky pic (note “will pose for treats or tips” sign):

(from Huffpost)

2) A US Senator gets sworn in while carrying his baby on one arm. Been there seen that? How bout the baby also raising his hand with the dad, when VP Joe Biden swears them in?

–

–

3) 13 quotes inspiring fresh starts and new beginnings. Here’s one:

Which sounds a little like a paraphrase of Galatians 4-5:

“4 Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. 5 Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life. “

Galatians was taped to my file cabinet when I was a rookie in my first big bank job. Later, when I got a stack of Bible cards that have followed me to all subsequent places of work and sat with me on every dealing desk thereafter, I forgot about this one, until now. And yes I have always underlined “Don’t be impressed with yourself.” You can achieve far more when your ego doesn’t get in the way. Do you want to achieve, or do you want to protect your pride? Remembering we serve Him (not our pride) actually helps with the achieving. At least, it’s helped me…

–

–

4) “When she told me that her husband had died in October, her mask slipped and for an instant I saw her grief. It was big. She said she was glad he went first because she knows there’s no way he could have lived without her.”

That was from Edenland, about this 81-year old lady Noelene. I had to put this here because………… “she was glad he went first because there was no way he could live without her.” Old Love. Am I the only one who thinks Old Love is one of the most amazing achievements in life? And then I read Eden’s post and thought it Wow This Is What The People In “Love, me” by Collin Raye actually look like.

–

–

–

And one for the road:

If you want to be happy this year, be happy this year.

I mean, if you must…

An email to a beloved uncle early on New Year’s Day, in response to his query, was an unexpected eye-opener. He had last really heard from me during my babymoon around the end of my second trimester, partly because as a semi-retired heart surgeon who has operated on some seriously famous people and now in his 70s, he leads an exceedingly glamorous life doing things like being a ship’s doctor on an expedition to Alaska, or teaching “crisis management” at hospitals, whereby they deliberately simulate medical emergencies in mock surgeries to train staff  reactions…

In recounting the last few months – my freakout when our ex-batu api driver goes off with Rockstar and the daft helper. My unexpected bleed and emergency C-section days later. The two months the apartment directly next to ours went thru major construction works. The two plumbing and one landlord and countless building management visits when our bath leaks into the downstairs neighbor’s bedroom because the initial plumber said there was nothing wrong. The heavy-loan-requesting driver. The shark nanny – it suddenly dawned on me Wow, Our Second Half Of 2012 Kinda Sucked. There were times I felt terrible, and yet I never realized it Kinda Sucked That Bad. (Then again there is the whole beautiful new healthy baby.)

So Goodbye, 2012. I won’t miss you. But boy did you teach me things that I hope’ll stay with me for awhile. So maybe I won’t miss you because you won’t totally be gone.

Regardless.

When you train perpetually with the weights on – when you practice living while you have construction and a new baby, and stress and depression, both yours and others – when you finally take the weights off – you fly.

Hello, 2013.