Lessons learned from 2011~

With 2011 on the cusp of exiting and 2012 literally in sight it makes you stop and reflect on the past year, years before and what lies ahead.. Lessons learned, hills climbed and some defeats…..at least it does for me… I enjoy reflecting I think if people would do it more often they’d learn so much about not only themselves but others….as we don’t always, can’t always see or take in the lesson or insight at the exact moment it’s occurred…



Over the past few years I’ve learnt a lot..the importance of learning from every experience, that the hardest events in our lives hold the most important lessons, self reflection is such a valuable asset…and one should always look at each situation from the others perspective, even if you still don’t agree.. understanding is huge….I’ve also leant forgiveness, and letting go of what you cannot control is vital to not only your health but overall well being as well…


2011 was huge for lessons….. First I was finally able to fully put into words “ There is no such thing as a bad day…sometimes we have a few hiccups along a 24hr period”… In the twenty 26 years I’ve been on this earth I’ve had my fair share of “hiccups“….leaving home at the age of fifteen due to circumstances no child should ever endure, having to work since I was 11 and three jobs to get myself through high school and into college, a car accident that left me not walking for two years, the death of my mother and of course the “loss” of a father figure…..All of which I’m TRULY grateful happened… I know some may think I’m nuts..but there truly is so much good that has come out of each “hiccup” and I wouldn’t change a thing….I really wouldn’t…..


If I wouldn’t of left at fifteen, I may have turned bitter ( Ive always been a glass half full, a smile can fix the worse day and someone if fighting a harded battle kind of girl..but it‘s possible)…instead I learned that what I was living wasn’t “ normal” and that life truly did have so much more in store for me.. As well as the gratifying feeling when you’ve done something on your own, succeeded and seen the look on those who doubted you. Working taught me at an early age how to manage money, I was to young to even think of applying for a credit card and banks didn’t take a fifteen year old seriously so you need to know your facts going into everything…I also learnt that with hard work I could achieve anything I wanted to, and at the end of the day even at fifteen the only person I had to blame was myself. My car accident made me into the Nurse I am today, at eighteen I was no were near mature enough or had enough life experience to make me the Nurse ” I wanted to be”. The two years of not walking taught me patience…how amazing ones body is and showed me how lucky I was to have such Amazing people in my life. The loss of my Mum no doubt was unbelievably hard, and I wish she was here to see the milestones I’ve hit since her death…. but makes the moments I was able to share with her that much more special. Everyone will lose there Mother unfortunately at some point in their life….it unfortunately is one of the inevitable…and regardless if your twenty one like I was, sixteen or sixty five it’s still going to hurt…. My mom had cancer…and I’m thankful for the opportunity it gave me..Cancer is a horrible disease, and no one wants to hear those words..go through the treatments, tests, wait…wait …some more…watch your loved ones fade away or endure unbelievable amounts of pain…but…. with all the bad there is so much good.. I was given 6 months with my Mum…where I knew it was more then likely the end..I was able to say all the “I love you’s “ one can speak in a day. I was able to hold her hand through each “hiccup”, kiss her forehead as she took her last breath and at the end of the day I was able to go to sleep knowing I gave her my all and did the best I could. I learned the greatest lesson from losing my Mum which was.. don’t waist saying what you need to on tomorrow. Say the I love you’s, the Thankyou’s and the I appreciate you’s now… because you never know if you’ll have tomorrow.


The lessons I’ve learned in the past few years lead up to being proven, tried and tested in 2011... The best thing about 2011 that I’ll pack along into 2012 is how important not only ensuring you say what you need to in the present that you are really “present” in each moment and to take pictures, lots of them... My goal for the year was to be “present” in every minute of everyday. If I found myself running into what was happening in the next hour what I was going to do next week, that I’d consciously make the effort to stop take a deep breath re group and to enjoy what was right in front of me.


As most of you know I took Laken to Scotland this summer with that “goal” in tow! Knowing I had an Aunt who is fighting cancer and wanting to ensure I enjoyed every moment with her as well as with everyone we were going to visit. I had an Amazing time with my Aunt, was able to spend an evening with her and my Uncle Malky going through old photos, asking questions about her life, my Grandma’s ( whom I never got the chance to meet) as well as what type of child my Mum was…I was 100% “present” while we visited and will cherish it forever. I also visited with my Uncle Billy while I was over and too made the conscious effort to be “present“, to not think about our weeks plans but to enjoy every minute. I was able to thank him for being such a great influence in my life and more of a “grandpa” then an Uncle. The best visit by far with him and his wife I’ve ever had, anticipating that I would see him many more times in the future, but knowing the lessons I’ve been so lucky to learn left nothing unsaid…..We retuned to Canada and two weeks upon returning my Uncle died of a massive heart attack…I’ll miss him so but have full peace in my heart knowing I fully took in the day spent with him and that he knew how important he was to me and how grateful I was he got to meet my son…


Five days before leaving for Scotland, my Uncle Eric popped into my head…just a passing thought. I knew he was embarking on a motorcycle trip across Montana in preparation for a bigger ride for Hepatitis C awareness for health care professionals as he was fighting the disease himself and thought I should email him….thankfully I did….I told him how I wished I wasn’t working so I could see him off.. how he inspired me, how I was so thankful for the “father figure” he brought into my life and that I wished him only blue skies on his trip… He was killed the next day in a motorcycle accident….I can’t express how thankful I am for each “hiccup” I’ve had and that I’ve been able to benefit from each lesson… After losing my Uncle Eric, I learnt how important pictures are….even if you feel your being a bother, they are such a nice keep sake…as I have none of the two of us…and was able to use that lesson when we went to Scotland. Laken wont remember meeting my Uncle Billy but I have some amazing pictures of the two of them to share with him when he gets older!


So here is to 2012, may you too benefit from the lessons I was blessed to learn. Live each day, Truly live it be present in each moment as it‘s not coming back! Never miss an opportunity to say the things that are important to you and take lots of pictures!! I cannot wait for 2012 and all the “hiccups” sent my way as each “lesson” learned is a step up in my books! From my family to yours all the best in 2012!!






~ Goal for 2012 is to embrace myself a little bit more … to try not to be soo critical of what I see as flaws…