Our Tapestry Of Life – Another New Year Begins

2023 is here!

A new year awaits. Will it be a good year, a difficult year, a happy year, a sad year?

One thing is certain, none of us really know.

As I look back over my life, every year has had highs and lows. Mostly, my life has been exciting and exhilarating. Yes, even the past 12 years fall into this category, despite my health failing me.

Each year, no matter my circumstances, new opportunities, to grow and learn, have always presented, and I have had a sense of purpose.

As I approach this new year, I feel like I am lacking the sense of anticipation I usually have. Maybe because I’m in ridiculous pain due to the progression of my bone disease.

Maybe because I’m entering the New Year feeling so exhausted before it even starts.

Maybe because it just feels like more of the same lies ahead.

Maybe because everything about my future feels so uncertain, and the reality is my body traps me in a world where I can’t make plans for today, let alone the year ahead.

Unveiling The Tapestry

The future can all sound rather depressing if I allow myself to continue thinking along this path. Dwelling on the uncertainties of life will stop me from daring to dream, daring to hope, daring to have faith there could be something exciting and exhilarating around the corner.

I love wall tapestries, and I have a beautiful tapestry hanging above my bed. It was a precious gift from my husband about 10 years ago. It’s called “Romantic Memories”.

Have you looked closely at the back of a tapestry? Generally, they are full of threads in a bit of a jumble. It’s hard to make out what the image is from this viewpoint.

Turn it over and it reveals a perfect picture. It makes sense, unless it’s abstract of course but let’s assume its a tranquil scene.

The chaos of all those jumbled threads at the back is only half of the story. They are necessary to reveal something beautiful.

This is the same with our lives. Those tears, those disappointments, missed opportunities, broken promises, all mixed with our times of laughter, new opportunities, friendship, love, hope, courage etc, these make our life tapestry. Together they reveal something special.

My beautiful Dad passed away just over a 1 ½ years ago, but he left me with so many legacies. One was the love of music. He used to sing a simple Gospel chorus, which has stayed with me since I was a little girl;

“Something beautiful, something good,

All my confusion, He understood, All I had to offer Him, was brokenness and strife, But He made something beautiful of my life”

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Gloria Gaither / Willam J. Gaither
Something Beautiful lyrics © O/B/O Apra Amco

Our lives are beautiful. They might be messy and complex at the moment, but they are in the process of revealing something beautiful, something good, as we grow and sew our unique tapestry of life through varying experiences.

I shared this quote from Martin Luther King Jr. in my last blog post, but it’s so appropriate for the message I want to convey here too.

“You don’t have to see the whole staircase. You just have to take the first step”

Martin Luther King Jnr

That’s it! I just need to step into the 1st January 2023 and take each day one at a time, step by step.

It’s all any of us need to do. Step with confidence into the New Year, knowing all the messy threads, thrown together as the backbone of our life’s tapestry, will reveal a complete picture. A picture that will eventually make sense of the chaos and calm periods of the year ahead.

I believe God is ultimately in control of my life. I don’t believe He causes difficult things to happen to me but I do know, by faith, He gives me the strength, resolve and ability, to deal with the good, the bad and the downright awful.

It is an uncertain New Year, but every New Year is. Despite the uncertainties, I still want it to be a year filled with purpose, filled with love and joy, filled with strength to deal with the difficult times, filled with hope when things seem hopeless.

Looking Back And Ingniting Hope

This year, my blog turns eight, and my online support forum will be turning six on the 14th of January.

Just before I started both of these ventures, I had a sense of losing purpose in my life due to my health.

So often when I’ve been at the end of my resources and I’ve felt like there is nothing more to life but the painful circumstances I’ve found myself in….so often this is the moment when amazing things, things beyond my wildest dreams, are about to happen.

In 2017, I just needed to be prepared to take a couple of steps….start the forum in faith, believing others would join, and not be afraid to submit an article to an online global magazine. Those two actions turned future years into purposeful and exciting days, weeks, and months.

If you’re sitting at home as the New Year approaches, feeling like you can’t see ahead, don’t lose hope. You are not alone. Chronic illness can feel all-encompassing and does place huge limitations on our lives.

It doesn’t have to make us a prisoner though. We do this to ourselves if we only dwell on what we can’t do, rather than what we can do.

Chronic illness is a part of our life, it’s not all of our lives.

Opportunities can present from the flicker of a quiet thought. Listen to your heart. Listen to those thoughts you think might be challenging you. Life can be exciting and amazing, even from the confines of your home.

Don’t be afraid to explore your ideas, even if you are scared and uncertain. The ideas which cause you to feel a little nervous and excited are often the ones worth pursuing. It means they are important to you.

The details, the plans, the hopes, dreams, twists, and turns will reveal our 2023 life tapestry as we go.

See where they lead. You may be wonderfully surprised.

You don’t have to see the whole tapestry. You just have to make the first stitch!

Sam Moss

Happy New Year!

Sam xx

Medical Musings with Friends

If you’re looking for genuine support, care, understanding and friendship, you are so welcome to join my closed Facebook support forum, Medical Musings with Friends . It’s a safe place to connect with others living with chronic and complex diseases, who truly understand the daily challenges. A warm welcome awaits.

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My book “My Medical Musings”, is published by Imaginewe Publishers and available now to purchase as a paperback or e-book.

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