Highlights and Challenges of 2009 -- Going Forward into 2010 (158 hits)
"No person is your friend (or kin) who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow and be perceived as fully blossomed as you were intended." - Alice Walker
Highlights and Challenges of 2009
Turning 50 Celebrating my 50th Birthday on Feb. 27th with friends. My girlfriends took me out to Red Lobster on my actual Birthday, 2/27 and Ivan took me out for dinner on Feb. 28th. He even gave me a gift, a book naturally, since he knows I’m a great reader. The book is the Brothers Karamazov which believe it or not I’m still reading! I’m finally up to page 427 and by the time my next birthday rolls around I should be finished!
Romance That dinner with Ivan has lead to an unexpected romance. Not without its complexities but no relationship is perfect. We’re still in the friends phase but we’ve achieved a level of spiritual and intellectual intimacy that for me I’ve never had with any man, except maybe my father. Most men just want to jump into the physical part right away. Ivan’s not like that. He really wanted and still wants to know where I live mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Ivan is the first man I’ve ever met who is really interested in what I think and what I have to say and who actually listens to me. I can share my poetry and my deepest thoughts, feelings and emotions with him without risk of being ridiculed.
He lets me be me and appreciates my uniqueness. He’s also the only man I’ve ever met who lives his faith. I admit I knew nothing about the Bulgarian Orthodox church except that they were on a different calendar from other Christians. Ivan has challenged me to examine my faith and my relationship with God. Being with Ivan has in fact brought me closer to God through daily Bible reading and prayer. Ivan has a good heart and a good soul.
Another plus is that I’ve learned more about Bulgaria, a country the size of Ohio, I knew very little about until I met Ivan. I’m no expert on Bulgaria but I have definitely learned more about the culture and history of Bulgaria in the past year.
Health My health is both a highlight and a challenge. I’ve been battling high blood pressure since 2008. For a while hypertension was winning. I nearly lost all the vision in my left eye. The blood vessels behind my Retina hemorrhage. This causes the sight in my left eye to blur, like looking through wax paper. If you only have vision in one eye you lose depth perception which carries with it a whole host of other problems. However I can say right now this December 25th my left eye is 90% better. I’ll always have the lines, specks and floaters but at least my sight has mostly cleared up.
Winning the fight against high blood pressure took really sticking to my diet. For the most part I have eliminated salt, red meat, dairy products, white sugar and caffeine from my diet. Yes the doctor did have to increase my medication this year but she also told me I must stick to my diet and reduce my stress. Weight is not an issue for me. I’m stick thin as was my Dad but he had high blood pressure. In my case hypertension is hereditary and stress related.
The only times I go off the diet is when I go out with Ivan. Then I tend to eat all types of Eastern European, Turkish and Greek foods. Living in New York it is easy to be a “Foodie” or a gastronome. New York has a plethora of ethnic restaurants. New York City is Food Heaven.
As for the stress I’m learning to manage that through meditation, prayer, Bible reading, writing and next year I plan to incorporate more exercise. I walk quite a bit more since I got rid of my car in Feb. but I need to do more.
Finances Money or the lack thereof has been the greatest challenge for me in 2009. Thanks to God watching over me, good friends and social service agencies I still have a place to live and food to eat. I’ve had to make a great deal of cutbacks as have most Americans but it has all been for the good. Getting rid of my car reduced my global footprint and forces me to use public transportation or walk. The most difficult thing to give up has been television, however due to the fact that I need to pay my rent and phone bills I finally broke down, called Time Warner and told them to cancel my service. That’s when I found out they have a bare bones option. I went with the Bare Bones option so now I basically have the same channels that were available back in the 60s and 70s plus NY1 , the news station. Eventually I’ll probably give up TV altogether. I’ve made it a point to no longer turn on the TV when I get home. Now I just listen to the radio and use my computer. Actually many of my co-workers don’t even own a television because most of us get paid so little we can’t afford one. Now I will keep my actual TV sets so I can watch the VCR and DVD but beyond that what’s the point since there is nothing good on television to watch anyway!
Education This is a gray area. I have not decided whether or not it makes career or financial sense to get my Masters degree. I question as to whether to invest time and money I don’t really have. I do want to further my education but I don’t know which MA to pursue. Also I’m not a test taker. I do poorly on standardized tests, so the GRE is not my friend. I’m not spending $140 on an exam I will surely fail. Now if my intelligence were measured via writing a paper or giving a presentation I would excel at either. I excel at research papers and oral presentations, however the no graduate programs in the CUNY system or the GRE people are trying to hear that. Anyway career and education is an ongoing process so let’s see what 2010 brings.
In order to expand my horizons and realize some dreams for 2010 I've joined CoCreating Our Reality and the 100 Day Challenge. My start date is Jan. 1, 2010, which I believe is fitting and appropriate. Feel Free to Join me Sisters!
