My friend Amy Bondar always takes time to reflect at the end of the year on what she is grateful for in the year past and what she envisions for the year to come. We recently met up for lunch to share our thoughts and realized she came with a full retrospective of 2010 and I showed up with some dreams I hope to make come true in 2011. So in Amy’s honour, I thought it would be a good exercise for me to take some time out of the busy holiday season to truly think about the amazing moments of 2010.

1. Being inspired to live a life of meaningafter hanging out with Bruce’s ex-in-laws in Kelowna for a few precious days this Spring. Shortly thereafter, I wrote a blog about how they touched me with their simple, but profound, way of living.
2. Celebrating Christmas and a 60th birthday with my mom for the first time in almost a decade. Often she’s living part-time in Calgary and part-time in Belize. This year she stayed from May-December, which gave us the opportunity to spend some great quality time together throughout the year. But watching her gamble her little heart out with her long-time friend on Christmas Eve brought me an extra dose of joy.
3. Starting my blog after being diagnosed with an ovarian tumor that led me to believe that I wasn’t using my creative energy as much as I should (the uterus and ovaries are the centre of creative energy, so tumors are often thought of as stagnant or blocked creative energy). The blog has brought me some much-needed creative relief while also giving me the opportunity to see how excited my dad was when he found out his blog on the economy was one of my most shared blogs (I’ve since beaten his record!). It also recently led to a personal email from an ambitious, articulate and intelligent 13-year-old who asked me to proofread her essay which she is writing to get into a local prep school. It’s things like this that make it time well spent.
4. Getting to visit two places in the world I’ve always wanted to see: Argentina and Prague. A colleague and I got the opportunity to visit both places and showcase NETELLER’s affiliate program at some of the world’s best gaming/affiliate conferences. We met some incredible people like Pedro, Victor, Daniel, Diego, Santiago, Juan, Carly and Fede. You can see the pictures here.
5. Seeing Thriller Live at the Lyric Theatre in Piccadilly Circus, London. This is truly the best live show I have ever seen. Just imagine, I went alone and danced my ass off beside a British senior who was conservatively dressed in a navy blue v-neck sweater but boogeying to the beat of Thriller. I would pay for a ticket to London, a night in a hotel and $250 for floor seats just to see the show again. In a heartbeat!
6. Getting second-degree burns on my hips and hands and experiencing the phenomenal pain that can only be alleviated by Oxycontin and Morphine. I’ll spare you the details, but if you are curious, you can read the blog on how I burned myself and what I learned about how to heal from burns faster.
7. Small talk with my nine-year-old nephew.This year he showed an unprecedented interest in chit chatting. I can’t tell you how much I love calling my sister’s place and having Aman answer the phone and share little bits of his day or lessons he’s recently learned (like “whenever there’s bad, there’s also good”). It’s truly precious.
8. Watching Food Inc. and seeing the anxious, fearful look in a cow’s eyes as she heads off to slaughter. That movie, and that scene in particular, affected me in a deep and lasting way. In the last six months since watching Food Inc. (affiliate link), I’ve bought chicken twice and learned to cook Indian food so that I can get some non-meat protein. It also awakened a deep desire for a connection to the natural world and a dream to one day live in the country with animals. Wow, still wrapping my head around that one!
9. Working my first 24-hour shift with a killer team at NEOVIA Financial to release our three-years-in-waiting platform. It afforded me the opportunity to develop deeper personal and working relationships with some really, really smart and capable people. I also realized I start to lose feeling in my legs after being awake for that long.
10. Meeting all the lovely little beings that were born of my close friends this year: Lily, Ben, Sekai and Will. They are each a gift to the world and are lucky to have parents (and aunties) who adore them. Equally exciting is seeing the faces of my friends who have decided to start trying for children. It seems there’s a pre-cursor glow that comes with that decision. They are beautifully ready for their children to arrive.
11. The sound of my friends’ voice at 7:30 AM as she called to let me know her father had passed on. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the sound of raw sadness and shock in her voice as she was faced with the thing that most of us will one day face: losing a parent. What might be even more defining for me is watching her come to terms with his death with honesty and grace. She’s strength embodied.
12. Breaking up with my personal counsellor and coach of almost four years on my 33rd birthday. Something just clicked this year and I was suddenly ready to be my own teacher, my own guide, my own counsellor. I can finally hear my own voice and wisdom coming through.
13. Being faced with a sudden desire to be enlightened after realizing that I was only using meditation to get great ideas for work. Within 30 seconds of realizing that being the smartest person at work was my dream, I shifted and decided that being conscious was the most important thing to me. My husband, who has been seeking greater self-awareness since long before we met, was so excited I finally understood his deepest desire. It brought us closer together.
14. Meeting the “new Bruce” who joined an MLM so he could start taking MaxOne (affiliate link), a glutathione accelerator. A few short weeks after being on this revolutionary supplement, Bruce was sleeping for the first time in 15 years and I got to meet a rested, relaxed and energetic man I love. I’m so grateful for being introduced to this supplement because it gave me more of a husband than I’ve ever had and has brought tremendous health and healing to Bruce.
15. Getting together every month with the smartest chicks in the city, affectionately known as the Dohtards. My friend started the evening gatherings over a year and a half ago and till this day we make it a monthly habit to get together and enlighten ourselves on topics as varied as anti-oxidants, global warming, the Congo and blow. Thank you for being the ring leader on this motley crew, Sarah!
16. Reading The Yoga of Eating: Transcending Diets and Dogma to Nourish the Natural Self (affiliate link) and being struck by the powerful idea that we overeat not because we love food, but because we have not fully experienced food. Eisenstein argues that we are so distracted and busy that we never give ourselves the opportunity to truly experience the food we ingest. Just being present with your body while you eat (which actually starts at smelling the food, not biting it) can transform the way you eat.
17. Watching my friend train for and conquer her first triathlon in just over two-and-a-half hours. I was in awe of her discipline, focus and sheer will to overcome the barriers her body has put up in her past. I also realized I have zero desire to ever do a triathlon but I surely commend those who do.
18. Doing things that scare me. My colleague told me one day that she tries to do something that scares her every day. I suddenly found myself eating fish and doing hypnosis in the Ottawa Valley. I figure, you only live this life once so you might as well experience as much as you possibly can. This philosophy has freed me from some of my inane opinions.
19. Getting to know myself and my desires with weekly meditations that only got deeper after attending the Inlighten Me Experience. Going back to meditation this year transformed my life. It sparked a series of internal changes that I’m so excited about, ranging from this blog, a more fulfilling relationship, new dreams and a new job. Speaking of …
20. Being offered a dream job in the marketing department at iStockphoto.com here in Calgary. Yes, it begins in January and I truly feel grateful for all the work and personal experiences I have had in the last 10 years that have prepared me to take on a job at this kick-ass local company. So excited.

Well, 2010, it was a gooder. Lotsa life-changing stuff. I don’t doubt that 2011 will be just as good, if not better. So .. without further ado, let’s bring it on!

Related posts:

1. Community blog: Winter, nature’s season of rest by Amy Bondar
2. Outrageous commitments
3. In search of meaning