I wrote this poem a few years ago and you can find it published in my book, “Each Breath Along the Journey.” My apologies for not posting it on New Year’s Eve but the message still holds true even after.
My wish is that 2025 holds magic and adventure for all of you, that the lessons your learned from last year hold true in this year and that all your wishes come to fruition.
Happy New Year! Happy 2025!
And thank you for your love, support, and for sharing your life with me. I am forever grateful!
Did you ever go looking for something and find something else instead? I did just that the other day and what wonderful memories it brought back.
I went looking for a particular item in my closet and opened a random box. Inside were quite a few mementos and then, there she was, my pink Ipod! I knew that I had kept it but haven’t seen it in a million years!
I ordered a charger, plugged it in, and guess what? It worked and there, right in front of me, were all of the songs that I listened to back in 2002 or 2003! She definitely showed signs of wear and tear from all the times I used her but still, it was amazing how many memories came flooding back.
I remembered the day I got it. It was on April 27, 2002 or 2003, one of my kids’ birthdays. My then husband gave it to me with a beautiful inscription on the back. Suddenly, I was back in time.
I remembered having it with me as I walked the Spring Lake, New Jersey boardwalk at 5:30 in the morning every day. I remember it being strapped to my left arm as I worked out at the gym. I remembered listening to it as I cooked breakfast for my five beautiful children and I remembered how much joy it brought me.
Today as I scroll through my playlists I can remember what each one meant to me and the times I played them. I can vividly see those days, hear the sounds and smell the scents.
I can smell the ocean as I walk on the boardwalk to the sounds of Matchbox Twenty. I can remember sitting on the beach with my coffee afterwards listening to Anita Baker and I can remember working on the weight machines at my gym listening to the music of Nirvana.
So many memories and a delightful visit to my past. I know that there were troubles beginning during that time but this tiny little electronic device washed them away for me.
And it washed away the memories of those times now.
You never know what you’ll find when you’re looking for something else.
I found an old friend that reminded me of a happy and simpler time in my life.
I love when the “memories” pop up on my social media. Some are sweet, some bittersweet, yet when I see them I take a moment to remember them and then I move back into the present. I’ll be honest, it bugs me to see other people post their memories with “those were the good ‘ol days.”
Okay, I get that line but there are people that believe their past was truly “the good old days,” and I wonder why they don’t see that the life they have “now” as the good days as well.
I have a past and I have memories just like everyone else, but I wouldn’t trade them for the life I have now and the memories I’m making in my life today.
Let me ask you this: “If the “good old days” were so good then why aren’t you still living in them?”
There are so many people that live in the past and I feel a sadness for them because they’re missing everything good in their present, and that hurts the people that ARE in their present life.
We tend to remember our past as this amazing time of our lives, but I would tell you that if you’re really going to think that that was the best time of your life, you should also try to remember what wasn’t so good about them.
And if you really believe that your past was “the good old days,” then you should go back to them or at least ask yourself why you aren’t living them anymore.
Life begins with your first breath and ends with your last, but it’s all those “breaths” in between that really count. Embrace “each breath along the journey” with each new day that you are gifted to live in.
Don’t live so far in your past that you lose sight of all the good in your present.
“My strength is their weakness, my weakness their strength.”
I wrote that quote many, many years ago and it still rings true today. I learned the hard way that when I was vulnerable to the wrong person they took it as a sign of weakness and used it against me to inflate their ego even more.
Once I realized that being vulnerable with the wrong person would not serve me well, I made a decision to stay strong and save my vulnerability for the right person. When I stood my ground they lost theirs. My strength became their weakness.
Remember that when you’re feeling broken from being vulnerable to someone. It’s not a sign of weakness to be vulnerable, it’s actually a sign of strength. Unfortunately, there are certain people that will take advantage of that and use it against you.
I heard this quote the other day and have been in love with it ever since…because it’s so true. We keep holding on to the life we planned, even if it doesn’t work out the way we wanted it to. We hold onto wanting what or who we can’t have, hold onto the life we want for our children that had other plans, and even hold on to the career we wanted so badly that we couldn’t accept wasn’t meant to be.
We hold onto the dream of what we wanted, when in fact, there is most often, a better and bigger dream just waiting for us…and this is why I love this quote.
I thought I would be married to the same person forever…life had other plans.
I thought that all of my children would live close by…they had other plans.
I thought I would be living a much different life than I am now…life is teaching me patience.
So, you see, we all need to let go of the life that we planned that isn’t happening the way we had thought or wanted and open our hearts and mind to the life that is waiting for us.
Anne Dennish - Writer/Author 