SUNDAY TOPIC STARTER - this time last year....

[DianKip]

Well, folks the holidays are fast approaching and I am going to be
hand making a bunch of my gifts this year. So I will be taking a few
days off from this group...not to worry, I have decided to post this
Sunday Topic a little early. it is officially Sunday, so I guess it
works just fine....

Anyway, i will be back in full force next week, so please keep your
comments coming.

Anyway, when I was deciding what to get everyone this year, I was
thinking...Jeez, my finances are in the pits this year, so like I
said, I will be hand making a bunch of my gifts. This got me to
thinking...well, sure my finances have been better in the past...I
mean, this is probably the most broke I have been around this time of
year in a long long time. But the fact remains that I am actually so
much better off spiritually and mentally than I have been in my life.
I mean, well, a year ago at this time I was actually homeless and I
was ready to pull my hair out. I have nine felony convictions ranging
from drug possession and delivery charges to gun trafficking. So
finding an apartment that would allow me to live in their building was
looking pretty bleak. I finally found one, but the apartment they had
for me was not ready for FOUR months. i went from couch to couch at
various friends' and relatives' houses. It was so cold, and a few of
the houses I was forced to stay in, I wouldn't normally ever even go
into because of the terrible filth and disarray they were living in.
but you know the old saying, "beggars can't be choosy"? Well, that
really fits when there are no other options around. I mean, I see a
therapist on a regular basis, and i was regularly crying on her
shoulder about the state my life was in.
This year on the other hand, i can look back and see that as a distant
memory. I can also look back and be proud of the fact that throughout
it all I never picked up. So sure, my finances are in the pits, but I
have a roof over my head, my electric bill is paid, I have a phone and
Internet. My daughter lives less than a block away and I get to see
her every single day. these are all things that weren't happening
last year.
So, I can take this experience one step further and tell myself that
if life is so much different from last year to this year, then what is
next year going to bring? Whether I can measure it with a stick and
tell you that next year is going to be better or worse than this
year....only time will tell. But I do know one thing for certain,
that no matter what my life brings me, I do not need to pick up. Life
can be a roller coaster ride...but in order to see the highs for what
they are, we also have to travel the dips that the path takes us, too.

Thanks for listening...and I will be back next Sunday with more of my
ramblings!
Dian