One Little Word.

Yikes! 2008 was a roller-coaster! My OLW for 2008 was LIVE. I did it. I breathed it. I LIVED in 2008. I was so proud of myself and so surprised how accountable the OLW kept me. I had a constant reminder to LIVE life each and every day. To never give up. To be in every moment. I admit that there are days when I struggled, but overall, I feel accomplished with it! Yay for me!

As the end of 2008 drew closer, I had decided to skip a OLW for 2009. Steph and I are still doing monthly words, but I was going to eliminate the over-all word. Then I got an email from my Mom that changed my mind. It was interesting to me that this "word-shattering" email came from my Mother, but it did and it set the pace for my BIG, 2009 OLW.

Here is the story that came from "Chicken Soup for the Grieving Soul":

At an airport I overheard a father and daughter in their last moments together. They had announced her plane's departure and standing near the door, he said to his daughter, "I love you, I wish you enough."

She said, "Daddy, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Daddy." They kissed good-bye and she left.

He walked over toward the window where I was seated. Standing there I could see he wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on his privacy, but he welcomed me in by asking, "Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?" "Yes, I have," I replied.

Saying that brought back memories I had of expressing my love and appreciation for all my Dad had done for me. Recognizing that his days were limited, I took the time to tell him face to face how much he meant to me. So I knew what this man was experiencing.

"Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye?" I asked.

"I am old and she lives much too far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is, her next trip back will be for my funeral, " he said.

"When you were saying good-bye I heard you say, 'I wish you enough.' May I ask what that means?"

He began to smile. "That's a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone." He paused for a moment and looking up as if trying to remember it in detail, he smiled even more.

"When we said 'I wish you enough,' we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with enough good things to sustain them," he continued and then turning toward me he shared the following as if he were reciting it from memory.

"I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright. I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more. I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive. I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger. I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting. I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess. I wish enough "Hello's" to get you through the final "Good-bye."

He then began to sob and walked away.

[ Original story by Bob Perks, in Chicken Soup For the Grieving Soul ]

My OLW for 2009 is ENOUGH. For all of the reasons listed above, but also many more. I want 2009 to a year of contentment. Where I am happy to just live in the moment I am in. Where what I already have is ENOUGH and I'm not spending frivolously to have something newer or bigger or to just have more. I want to save money this year and I think "ENOUGH" will help remind me of that. I wish ENOUGH for all of you as well!

Welcome, 2009!