The end of the year calls for self-reflection. It’s time to check my two buckets.
My Bucket of Thanks for 2014 reminds me of how lucky I am. With God’s loving mercy, I have triumphed over the challenges in my life. All I have to do is to reach inside the simple little bucket of blessings. Some of those blessings were unexpected gifts from above; some dreams came true due to hard work and sometimes luck. In this last day of 2014, my bucket of thanks gives me hope for the future.
Thank you to my family for your unconditional love. Thank you for my mom, my sister Bheng, my brothers and their wives, my nieces and nephew, and my extended family. I was not able to come home to the family reunion when my sister Bheng went home to the Philippines last July 2014. I lived vicariously in nostalgic remembrance at all the pictures of my mom, brothers and their families, my aunts and cousins with their Hawaiian-themed reunion.
Thank you for my son Jordan for making me a proud mom. He had spared me from any major drama as a teenager. This year, he graduated from college with a double degree and cumlaude honors. He finally entered the work world at Rockefeller University. He is my own little Bill Nye, my own research scientist, but definitely handsomer and funnier.
Thank you that our dog Boomer can resume waiting by the window for our return home. He gave us a bit of a scare when he went missing overnight, lured by an open backyard gate. Thank you for the good Samaritan who dropped him off at a shelter.
Thank you for the privilege to witness the Centennial celebration of the Church of Christ (Iglesia ni Cristo). The magnificence and grandeur of the church was manifested for all to see. The INC had established magnificent houses of worship in more than 100 countries all over the world.
Thank you for the chance to start on a new journey as a student in the Doctor of Nursing Practice in Educational Leadership program. The trip to Colorado was the start for the 2-year challenge. I am thankful that I have a wonderful cohort of friends to share the pains and joys before we don our fancy robes.
Thank you for my friends, far and near. They make me laugh and make me feel special. I have been blessed with special friends who helped me with the difficult times. I can only give back by paying their kindness forward.
Thank you for my work that keeps me busy and keeps me thinking of new ways to educate. I am much more energized with learning everyday. Thank God for the little reminders from the head hunters that I have so much more to offer. Sometimes, even the most self-assured needs validation for a job well-done, even if there is no urgency to jump ship in the near future (yet).
Thank you to those who have read my book "Nursing Vignettes" . It is a labor of love, a “someday dream-come true”. I love how some friends tease me about the almost-love stories in my book. I wonder why my male friends seem to take special interest with Dr. L and the soda we shared. I have a feeling that there is a great market out there for men who love romances.
My Bucket-to-do list for 2015 is for my ‘someday dreams”. There are still many places to go to, people to see, experiences to savor, and goals to achieve. It is a dynamic list of dreams, of exciting endless possibilities. Some dreams are recycled to motivate me to persevere against all odds. As we look forward to 2015, I resolve to appreciate the blessings that come my way.
Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.
- (Charles Dickens, English novelist, 1812-1870)
