This isn't going to be a typical blog post today.  And it's not going to be a long one because there are not enough words that could ever explain how blessed I feel about having my oldest daughter.

There's no better feeling than waking up to the realization that the daughter you raised has grown up to become a better woman than I could ever dream of being.  For all the trials and tribulations of trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel during those teenage years when you ask yourself a hundred times...how are we ever going to survive this...and here you are.  Looking at her and seeing the beautiful light of her soul. 
Her kind, nurturing ways are the best blessing a mother could ever ask for.

She's had a rough year but has stood strong and stayed faithful.  Known in her heart that the only thing she actually could control was her own reactions. She's seen the best in people when I'm sure it was all she could do to not scream to the heavens and stuck in there and fought what battles she could fight and let the other ones go.

She knows when to forgive and why it's important.  She puts the reason in being reasonable.  She listens and speaks with her heart, even when the words she has to say aren't necessarily the ones someone wants to hear.  She's a good wife...a good mother...a good friend...and most of all...she's the daughter that any mother could ever be blessed with having.

When I think of unconditional love...I think of her.  Because that is what she gives to the world.  She's strength.  She is kind.  She is nurturing. And she is wise beyond her years because her soul is filled with grace, humility, and love that shines with beauty.

My father had to have known that from the beginning when he sang "You Are My Sunshine" the very first time as he held her in the rocking chair.  Because she is sunshine that lights everyone's way.

Here we are, a week into the new year and I sincerely hope everyone is off to a good start.  This first week of the new year has been filled with lessons and I thought I would take the time to share some of my thoughts on those lessons with all of you. 

It could always be worse.  I have family, friends, a roof over my head and pets to snuggle up in bed with me to watch television at night.  I ate today.  Even though I've got a miserable case of some kind of respiratory yuck, it could be worse. 

I'm my own worst enemy at times.  I read between the lines and think too much which always leads to things that maybe I shouldn't be thinking about.  Well, that is unless I am willing to do something about it. 

No matter how little or in what context you know a person, even when you are the first recipient of devastating news about someone it hurts.  And all you can do is shed the tears then pull yourself together and do what you need to do.

Unconditional love is just that.  Unconditional. 

Never make a long term decision during a short term upset.  Think it through.  Weigh the pros and cons.  Do what you must and pray for the best.

Even when you can see the good in a person, that doesn't mean they can see it in themselves.  And you can't make them see it or be the person that you know they are capable of being.  Only they can do that.

The empathetic side of myself is sensitive.  And sometimes I need to protect that side of myself to avoid overload.  And that occasionally means going off by myself to regenerate.

Just because I have boundaries, morals, integrity...it doesn't mean that everyone else will.  And I can't change them or control what they do or don't do.  I have to control how I let them get under my skin.

Without effort, no matter what your goals or dreams are, they aren't going to come to fruition.  Nobody is going to do it for me and it wouldn't be satisfying if they did.  Manifest your dreams.

We are only promised one moment at a time.  We don't know what tomorrow will bring or even the next hour will bring.  Live.  Live in the present because the past is already gone and the future is not a guarantee.

You are only as beautiful as the person you are inside.  You can have a pretty face and an ugly soul.  Be beautiful no matter what.  Because that is how you will eventually be remembered.

It's not selfish to take care of yourself. 

Honesty is the best policy.  Speak your truth.  Always.

Happy New Year to each and every one of you.  I hope 2017 is one of the best years ever!