I came across a Tweet from one of my Internet/celebrity crushes earlier this afternoon. Felicia Day said “Happy NYE all! Make sure to write down things you’re proud of from 2011! Brings in the new year on a positive note :)”

This has been a year full of excessive challenges for me, and as of yesterday, I was ready to write this off as quite possibly one of the worst years of my life. However, when I really started to think about it, Felicia is right. When you focus on the positive, the negatives of bereavement, loneliness, rejection, being stood up more times than I can count, being dumped, all do not seem quite so bad. Among the difficult times and the perceived fails, here are some of my wins for 2011:

  • I started a blog.
  • I paid all of my bills on time.
  • I was never charged any overdraft or late fees from banks or credit cards.
  • I didn’t lose any weight, but I didn’t gain any either.
  • I worked two jobs while going to a state university and got a promotion at one of them.
  • I took eight classes at a state university, and I received As in all of them.
  • I drummed in a band with friends in front of an audience for the first time in a few years.
  • I made at least one coworker laugh almost every day of work.
  • I read more books in a single year than ever before.
  • I continued to learn a new language.
  • I had a poem published in a nationally circulated literary magazine.
  • I was invited to discuss that poem at two community college English classes.
  • I helped some of my family members stay connected during difficult times.
  • I get to celebrate 31 years of being 100% drug free.
  • I demystified some of my family history with my nana and even got to share new discoveries with her before she passed away.

Celtic Trinity Knot

What are some of your wins for 2011?