"Every
year on your birthday, you get a chance to start new." -Sammy
Hagar
I
know I have said it before, but time is a very funny thing. Each day
seems so long, but suddenly you look back and wonder where they all
went. And as April 17th was approaching, I looked back and realized
just what a crazy year I've had. Because you know what? We have
reached a milestone.
Walk
In the Rain With Me is officially
One
year
old!!!
Can
you believe it? I can't. And yet, I can...
So
much has happened since I wrote that very first blog post- The
Product of My Boredom. My writing style has developed. My own
personal views have developed. I'm 15 now.
When
I first created Walk In the Rain With Me, it's name was based mostly
upon my love of the rain, and the fact that people always act like
you're going to catch the plague if you go out "in the cold,
damp weather."
Since
then, it has come to mean so much more to me. At the end of the
summer, I was diagnosed with something called POTS- postural
orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. It's been a
really rough journey, full of ups and downs. Sometimes it feels like
mostly downs, but I have learned that there will always be an up
coming along.
A
lot of people, when diagnosed with POTS, end up losing many good
friends just when they needed them the most. Because they are unable
to do things the same as before, people they care about end up
drifting away from them. And it's so sad, because these people are in
a place where they could use a lot of emotional support.
I, on the other hand, feel very blessed to have such an amazing group of friends. Despite how bad my health has been lately, in some ways, this past year has been one of the best years of my life. It's easy for me to forget sometimes just how many people care about me. I mean, I know I have friends, but it's not until something like this happens that I truly see how many people are actually interested in how I'm doing.
I
have been able to see, first-hand, just how many people in my life
are willing to "walk in the rain with me." And let me tell
you, there are way more than I imagined! People I thought never even
noticed I was there are asking how I've been, if I'm doing better,
and just generally making me feel like I matter.
And
it just makes me so happy!
If
you know anything about me, you'll probably know that, when I'm
happy, I like to make other people happy, too. In fact, my absolute
favorite poem is one by Emily Dickinson that says,
If
I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
That's
pretty much my motto right there.
So,
because I've been having such a happy week, I have decided that we
need to do something special for our Birthday- something to share the
happy. And what better way to put a smile on someone's face than to
have a virtual party?!?!
Yay!!!
In
honor of this momentous occasion, I have compiled a countdown of the
top ten most viewed blog posts.
Top
10 Countdown
10.
Where
Have All the Years Gone?- 46 views
9.
Family,
Stupid People, and Laughing at Yourself- 47 views
8.
Single
and Imperfect and Words
From a POTSie Pt. 3- Both 49 views
7.
Revelation
Moment- 51 views
6.
Everything
Changes and Mayhaps
It's NOT (Entirely) the Government- Both 55 views
5.
"All
of the Clone-Like People"- 56 views
4.
Lost-
62 views
3.
When
All You Have is Fishes- 98 views
2.
My
Passion- 115 views
And
now... the moment we've all been waiting for... The most viewed blog
post of all Walk In the Rain With Me history is...
1.
Dear
POTS- With an astounding 188 views!
It's
been a pretty wild ride this past twelve months, and I want to thank
everyone for continually supporting me and my blog, and for reading
all of my random ramblings. Whether you've been with me since the
beginning, or only since last week, I appreciate you. I really do.
And I'm looking forward to seeing what the next year brings.
