At the end of December and the very beginning of January there was a darker and heavy atmosphere, and it felt like it was everywhere. The atmosphere is still heavy, like people have the weight of the world on their shoulders. And adding to that we’ve already had several occurrences, that brought tragedy and loss for many. More than I care to mention. But there have already been so much, that it seems hard to believe.

Between cars barreling through revelers and Christmas markets, to widespread wildfires, earthquakes and tsunami warnings. So many things that have effected everyone’s minds and hearts. Some might even think that this could indicate this year won’t be a good one.

The thing is, that every single thing that happens in our lives, is interpreted individually. We can choose to think that these things won’t end, and might even continue or increase. We always have a choice. Take the beginning of my year. It’s been a hard one. I have several things that are affecting my finances deeply. I’ve also had the utter loss of all my belongings. And I continue to battle stage 4 cancer, having to do chemo every two weeks for the unforeseeable future. Then there is the fact that I continue to have to continue living with friends, unable to get back out on my own. I have PLENTY of reasons to feel depressed and even hopeless.

But I’m here to tell you, that my faith in God and fate, destiny or whatever you want to call it, is boundless. It wasn’t always this way, and there were times when I didn’t pray or meditate to speak to him. Heck, you might even say that I lived sinfully at some times in my life. And it wasn’t because I got cancer. Over time, I finally realized that I was growing and becoming a person who wanted good, love and peace in my life. And yes, skeptics and atheists could say that’s not God. But there is sense of warmth, comfort and a knowing that that something so much bigger is actually steering the boat and has a plan for me.

Even the most painful and hardest parts of my life were more bearable knowing this. A sense that there was knowledge and growth inside of all those events, and it truly DID make me a better person in every sense. So even though 2025 has started out jacked up and hard for so many, you can look deeper and see what knowledge lies there. I know that it is difficult to do amid, extreme loss or calamity. The emotions we feel are unique to our species, as well as our level of intelligence. We are reactive creatures by nature, and our fight or flight instinct is generally reactive, rather than logical.

But if you stop yourself and find a place to quiet your mind, you would be amazed at what surfaces, when you can move past those basic emotional reactions. You might find that you needed to stop being materialistic or vain. Perhaps you needed to remember humility or modesty. You may have experienced a reconnection to faith or disconnection from things that did not serve your soul in healthy way. Or you realize that you didn’t truly value what should have mattered most to you. Then too, perhaps you forgot how much work it takes to accomplish even one achievement because things came too easily for you. It means different things, to different people.

But what helps you become wise, forthright, loyal, joyous, grateful, kind or generous…is the experience of loss or hardship. You gain so much from these things if you ‘really’ look at what you learned from it. Yes, loss is hard…pain is excruciating…rebuilding is a LONG and difficult path to tread. But in the end it is the one way to truly grow in the soul. So that you DO experience the great things you have when you regain them.