None knows the weight of another's burden. ~George Herbert

New year. New me. Or so I hope. In reviewing my journals and postings over the past year I attempt to do so with they eye of a most critical reader. A reader who may be yearning to know how this story ends, but is more concerned with if our heroine's growth as a character has been significant or just a meandering thought. And each time I study my life over the past year I see all the little successes and giant failures through the lens of perspective and discover that, however infinitesimal it may seem, I have moved forward and come just that much closer to being the person I have set as my standard of expectation. Another observation I have found myself making is how little we often see beneath the surface of the lives of those we insist we value. Sometimes in the hesitancy to pry we can avoid the meaningful questions that allow us to erode away at the sediment of superficiality and gain the gem of deeper knowledge of the struggles of another. I have lived a lifetime of making this mistake as well as the mistake of sharing thoughts and feelings that would best have been kept someplace safe and warm. But I look forward with  better understanding of myself and a desire to better understand and truly see others as fellow travelers also striving to move forward despite the struggles and challenges life may bring to us. I may not be aware of the burdens a friend may be carrying and vice versa, yet I am hopeful that the me of 2012 will be ever mindful that we are in a constant state of forgiveness, both giving and receiving.