It’s the last few hours of 2012, right about the perfect time for me to look back at the twelve months that have passed. This year has been full of many firsts, endings and beginnings, challenges and adventures. At times, I felt like I was standing still, like the days couldn’t pass by quickly enough. Other times, I wish the hands of the clock would slow down, drawing each second to its fullest span, freezing my world in that very moment.

Unfortunately, time control hasn’t yet been invented — but thanks to the powers that be, we’ve got cameras that encapsulate experiences in frozen images, and we’re all equipped with that incredible machine we call our brain, which stores memories and associates them with the corresponding images. So much has happened that I won’t attempt to remember them all, but here are some especially memorable moments that brightened up each month of my 2012 :

Today, I give thanks for my many firsts — my family’s first time to celebrate New Year’s out of town, my first time to snorkel (or attempt to, anyway), my first purchase of my own phone, my first plane ride alone (both domestic and international) and my first time to join NaNoWriMo.

I give thanks for the courage to resign from my job, and for the many things I learned there — from driving to places I’d never been to before, to dealing with different types of people, to closing sales and executing my designs.

I give thanks for the opportunity to study again in order to pursue a career in writing.

I give thanks for my travels — from our family trip to Palawan and my business trips to Cebu, to Holy Week in Korea, soul-searching in Singapore and unplanned Halloween partying in Boracay.

I give thanks for my safe return home, every time.

I give thanks for the trials that made me stronger, braver, wiser and more independent.

I give thanks for the reminder (in the form of my GERD) to take care of my health, and thanks for the fun alternative to exercise that is Zumba.

I give thanks for the gift of coffee, because now I realize I must savor the limited amount that I can drink.

But most of all, I give thanks for the gift of friends — for my officemates who supported me at work and continue to cheer me on in my new endeavors, for my grade school barkada who have seen me at my geekiest and fattest times, for the Oreads who were brought together by a shared love for music, and for my CLC “kada in Christ”. And of course, family. It’s no surprise that my 2012 collage began and ended with the “Barts” — after all, what is more constant than family?

Thank you, Lord, for the year that was and the year that will be more. Here’s to more firsts, to both old and new relationships, to a new career, to more steps out of my home and my comfort zone, to health, to love and joy and courage.

Happy new year, everyone! 🙂