We can never be sure exactly how old my Dad is because he was born on Chinese New Year’s eve (which moves compared to Western calendar). We also can never seem to remember if we added the year we aren’t supposed to add. You see, the Chinese don’t start counting birthdays until a baby reaches one year of age. I guess in the old days they’d hedge their bets in case, well, the baby didn’t make it the full year.
So, being of the Chinese persuasion, genetically at least, it gives me great pride to celebrate the one year anniversary of this blog. I guess we made it through the critical stage.
I don’t really know what I expected when I started blogging. Mainly I just wanted to get the ‘word’ out about positive psychology and helping others to find more peace, contentment, and satisfaction with life. Pretty soon it became obvious that I was getting more wisdom ‘in’ by writing and reading others’ blogs than I was getting ‘out’. The writing process itself has simply helped me formulate, re-arrange, and refine.
Committing to the every other day schedule has also required some discipline on my part. I’m glad I didn’t just write whenever the mood struck because then it would’ve been too easy to just let it slide another day. Writing every other day requires me to dig deep down or synthesize something when I might not have done so otherwise.
In addition to the surprise of how much I learn just from the writing process, I’ve also been surprised by what seems to strike a cord with others. The blogs I put the most care and thought into are probably the ones that turn out to be least interesting to others. Some of my most popular blogs (popular is very relative by the way) have been blogs that I have written and posted when I have been in a hurry. Maybe I’m more authentic when I write that way? If so, that’s good because my time is so limited now that I’m in school now too. I could try to do my homework that way too and see if it improves my grades. 🙂
One of the best surprises has been the amazing blogging community. Thank you to all of you out there, even if I haven’t had as much time as I would’ve liked to get onto your webpages. You inspire me with your passion, creativity and wisdom.
Finally, thanks to all the readers who have offered words of encouragement. I can’t tell you how many times I considered just giving up the blog. Inevitably, during the year, someone tells me something encouraging and off I go, spewing again at the…. fingertips. I am so grateful to share our beautiful journeys together. 
Silver Lining 
Happy anniversary! That’s a great feat!
Thank you so much!