i would like to be able to say that i have never made ANY new year resolutions. but of course, i did when i was younger. i quickly learned that not only did i end up not keeping any of them, but it was pretty much pointless because who of us knows what the future will bring? as someone whose life has turned on a dime, i can attest to the fact that making promises to yourself to do this or that without knowing what the future holds is pretty useless.
of course, i am thankful for my family and friends most of all. without their love and support, i do not think that i could have endured this past year. i am so very grateful to all of you- you know who you are- and i will never be able to thank you enough.
another thing that i have been thankful for this year is good health care. i have had wonderful doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals who have done their best to help me get well. i am grateful to live in a country where i can have access to the best hospitals and treatment options. i have never taken that for granted. i will admit to doing some research on choosing the " who, what and where " in my health care, but it was available and i am very appreciative for that.
i am thankful for music. over the holidays, my sister and i noted the fact that when we were growing up, we were always surrounded by lots of music. we both sort of took it for granted. our dad and uncle played guitars, and there was always music playing somewhere. when i was so sick this summer and fall ,during and after chemotherapy, and i found it hard to get out of bed, i listened to music. the music that i was most thankful for was the music of george gershwin. i "discovered" him thanks to my eight grade teacher. she assigned research topics for all of her students, and she gave me george. i fell in love with his music, and love it to this day. so as i lay in bed, cold washcloth on my head and trying not to be sick, i concentrated on gershwin's beautiful music. listening to music not only helped me pass the time, but gave me something wonderful to experience and focus on. if there is anyone out there who somehow doubts the existence of God or heaven, just listen to "rhapsody in blue".
of course, i like all GOOD music. i am not just about classical. i enjoy rock music of my generation, jazz, world music, reggae, gospel, about anything except hard rock- just never got into that. i am sure that there is some good hard rock out there, but it just always gave me a headache. my husband says that my CD selections probably baffle amazon. they never know what to recommend for me! if they tried to add all of my selections into a computer to figure out exactly what i liked, the computer would probably explode or something. one thing i do know, though, is that music can improve my mood, lift me past my troubles, and sometimes even transport me back to the time when i first heard a particular song.
i received the remastered CD of " rubber soul" by the beatles for Christmas this year. that was my favorite album when i was a young( very young, lol) teenager. one of my cousins gave it to me for Christmas right after it first came out. my cousin was working on the west coast, and had purchased it before it had been released around where i lived. i played that album so much, i practically wore it out! i know that my parents got tired of hearing that album over and over. in case you wondered, my favorite song on the album was ( still is) " norwegian wood". it was the first time that i had ever heard a sitar, and i was just blown away. to this day, just hearing this CD just takes me back to when i was very young.
so, i will not be making any new year resolutions tonight. i am being thankful for all the good things that have happened to me this year, and will be hoping for better health in 2016. happy new year to all of my family and friends out there, and my wish for you is good health and lots of good music!
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