This post is a little more serious in tone than what I normally write, but it is a topic that means a lot to me and in keeping with the theme of "New Year's Resolutions." I hope you take the time to read it and comment below. Please share your motivation for following through with your resolutions, projects, goals for 2013.
I am notorious for taking on projects and then abandoning them, letting them slip away secretly into oblivion. In fact, that's how this blog started in the first place. I had a few projects, or goals, that I wanted to accomplish in 2012, and they didn't necessarily get finished--like I posted previously, 2012 was a big, crazy year for me. So today I will look at the opportunity to start the New Year in a different way.
Late in my second trimester, we found out that my dear aunt Sonia died suddenly of heart failure, having had no previous problems. My grandmother was waiting for Sonia to pick her up for dinner, but she never showed up. It was sudden, unimaginable, incomprehensible. I didn't even find out until a day or two after it happened; my parents were worried how I would take the news being so pregnant and so hormonal. Needless to say, I didn't take it well.
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| My beautiful aunt Sonia, December 2011 |
Sonia is the closest person I have lost. She was a wise and inspirational woman who believed in the strength and resilience of the soul. When I announced my engagement, she sent me a message that spoke to the power of believing in yourself, your destiny, your "miracle." She read a passage on a similar theme at our wedding ceremony, the last time I saw her (and the first time I had seen her in two years). Her words really resonate with me: depend not necessarily on a higher power, but the power within yourself; be conscious of the self but not self-conscious.
Naturally, the New Year is a time of reflection, and Sonia's message fits well here. It is worth mentioning that her birthday was also January 1! So on January 1, 2013, I didn't just think about exercising more (though I'd love to lose the remaining baby weight) or eating healthier (though I have babies who depend on me for their nutrition). This year, more than any other in my life, calls for a refocusing, now that I have my own children, two beautiful healthy babies who are completely dependent on me and on their father. I had necklaces made for my sisters and myself to commemorate Sonia's message and to remind us that we are in charge of our own destiny. It sounds so cliche but really, every day we live is another chance to choose what direction we want to go, to live our own miracle.
What words of wisdom will you live by in 2013?
This post is the second in a series for the Ultimate Blog Challenge. To read the first post, click here.
Such a beautiful tribute post to your dear Aunt. I really like the line of "be conscious of the self but not self-conscious" which speaks to all of us during the beginning of a New Year where most of us do focus on how we look. Thanks for a gentle reminder of what's important in life and for a redirect of focus.
ReplyDeleteYour lovely Aunt would be so proud of you for truly receiving her message and taking it to heart! Thank you for this beautiful and touching post, Mercedes! Here's to a magnificent year of miracles!!!
ReplyDeleteMy words of wisdom for 2013 are the following: Look after the beautiful YOU that resides in you and needs nurturing just like your family. Your aunt did it for you but at some point in our lives we have to become our own parents. We have to look after the child within us that needs love from us for as long as our bodies are alive.
ReplyDeleteAmazing! We have similar goals in 2013 and similar tragedy in 2012. I also am the type to start something, get all excited and then end up stopping when the excitement isn't as exciting. My 2013 is my year of challenges.
ReplyDeleteAlso my Uncle died from drowning in a river in August. My Uncle's death is really sad. He is the closet person I have lost and one of the closet people in my life. I always looked up to him growing up.
Isn't it funny how much the same we all are?