A New Year - 2012

One year ago: January 1, 2011.  Joey in hospital for croup.

Last night we danced at 12:00 am.  January 1, 2012.  As Dick Clarke and Ryan Seacrest counted down the dropping of the ball in Times Square we watched and then spontaneously danced to Auld Lang Syne as we celebrated the end of a challenging year-2011 and welcomed in a New Year.  A year of unknowns.  A year not worrying about heart surgery.  A year of celebration and change and growth.  We danced.  In our pajamas and glasses.  Out of our party clothes, my husband and I danced cheek to cheek to celebrate and welcome in 2012.

No resolutions that I can quickly spout off this year.  Many, many good intentions and goals and grand ideas.  We will see how this year's journey goes.  As I have spent the past two years learning-- I am truly not in control of what will happen, and that is okay. 


My inspiration for this year comes from a beautiful bookmark I picked up and that I use in my daily planner to help keep me focused, humble and growing as a human.  I hope you enjoy.


The Litany of Humility - Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930)


O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver Me, Jesus.


From the desire of being loved. . .
From the desire of being extolled. . .
From the desire of being honored. . .
From the desire of being praised. . .
From the desire of being preferred to others. . .
From the desire of being consulted. . .
From the desire of being approved. . .
From the fear of being humiliated. . .
From the fear of being despised. . .
From the fear of suffering rebukes. . .
From the fear of being calumniated. . .
From the fear of being forgotten. . .
From the fear of being ridiculed. . .
From the fear of being wronged. . .
From the fear of being suspected. . .


That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.


That others may be esteemed more than I. . .
That, in the opinion of the world, 
others may increase and I may decrease. . .
That others may be chosen and I set aside. . .
That others may be praised and I unnoticed. . .
That others may be preferred to me in everything. . .
That others may become holier than I,
provided that I may become as holy

as I should. . .