As I write this there is an ending happening. From one perspective there are many endings – there are six hours left of this day, six hours left of this month, this year; the final meal has been eaten and shortly I will go to sleep for last time and will wake to a new day, new month, new year and so many possibilities. As many people are driven to do, it is time to review what I have achieved, what I have learned, what mistakes I have made, what has brought me joy and what has brought me to tears.
I don’t recall the start of 2025. I know that Christmas would have been hard – it has been for the last almost 30 years. My intention this year was to put aside fear, anger, pain. It didn’t happen. I probably made that intention last year too. And all the years before.
I live in the Far North of Queensland, in the Wet Tropics – and this is the wet time of year. Hot, humid, biting insects and pouring rain, and it can often seem as if the only promise for the coming weeks is that of mould, damp, cyclones, floods….. but that is normal life here. We get used to it.
The floods in 2025 were spectacular. Devastatingly spectacular – with the emphasis on ‘devastating.’ There are people in my town whose homes flooded almost a year ago and they still have not been able to return. When I place my troubles and worries against that disastrous background a new perspective is recognised. Many of my difficulties are made more, simply because of the way I looked at them at the time.
My house threatened to go under water, but before any danger occurred, a friend drove through the growing flood water to pick me up and take me to her home to wait things out. I was lucky, the water only broached one small room which was easily cleaned.
I fell over some flood debris in the garden and landed on my nose, breaking it. My landlord was visiting and he took me straight to the doctors. If he hadn’t been there, it would have been a totally different story.
Over the year several things that could be called ‘horrible’ happened, but in every case there was someone I could reach who helped me out.
I have a friend who lives in the USA. I talk with her on the phone almost every day. Sometimes hers is the only voice I hear for days. That, for some people would be dreadfully lonely. For me, I enjoy being alone, but I do look forward to her call and her question “What are you up to?”
There have been a lot of medical things happening over the year – I’m getting older and my body seems to enjoy giving me a fresh challenge every now and then! I’ve had a number of procedures and major surgeries, recovery is definitely in the ‘challenging’ category – but I also have people who help. Cleaners, a gardener, a driver to take me to hospital visits, meals delivered to my home, disability/mobility devices provided.
In every case, in every potential difficulty there is a choice. I can view whatever is happening as a hardship, I could get angry, lock myself away and bemoan my hardships – and sometimes it all gets too much and that is exactly what I do, but mainly, once the fear is under control, I am so very, very grateful for the blessings I hold.
I have a house which has survived cyclones and floods, owned by a landlord, who will happily call around to fix something when needed. I have a friend who visits when she is passing and almost always brings me dark chocolate or some other little gift. I have people around the world who message me to ask my advice. I have my American friend who listens to me rabbit about mundane, probably boring stuff such as my crocheting, the invasion of ants that usually herald the next downpour of rain and the recipe I am using to make bread. We also talk of deep and meaningful things, of spiritual growth, mindfulness, Taoism, ego, and the purpose of human life, but I especially love the peek into her life which is chaotically filled with family and animals, Qigong, the books she is reading, the work she does. I love that when we finish talking and hang up the phone, I can step back into my quiet, silent life where I feel safe.
We all have lives filled with drama. Sometimes that drama is huge, such as a house going underwater, major surgery, accidents, money issues and so much more. The drama is real, but how we face the drama can affect how we get through, how we recover and how we move forward in our lives.
These things happen. We are human, we can’t avoid drama – and by ‘drama’ I also include trauma, pain, illness, fearful situations and more. We are told that each of these happenings are experiences and if we can learn to walk through the experience, recognising it for what it is, remaining calm when we can, and knowing how to bring ourselves back to calmness when we lose it, life will appear to be less… dramatic.
This is what I am going to work on for the coming year – now just five hours away….
My Mindfulness Bell is turned back on. It is my hourly reminder to stop, take a deep breath and consciously bring myself into a calm and centred space by acknowledging the experience without allowing it to engulf me.
I have already worked out that when drama happens, I am never alone. Other people are also having that experience, other people are there to help where needed. And sometimes all that is needed is to take that deep breath, that moment of stillness, and then take a step forward through the experience.
And so we move forward into 2026. I feel that there will be much drama and many changes in this year. Let us all try not to enter the chaos when drama shows its face, but rather allow ourselves to acknowledge the experience, keep ourselves centred and calm and move forward in Peace.
Thank you for joining me on this journey through life. May 2026 bring for you the opportunity to work towards making the changes you desire in your life.
May you walk in Peace.
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