{"id":660,"date":"2016-12-30T10:39:59","date_gmt":"2016-12-30T10:39:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mybigballofstring.com\/?p=660"},"modified":"2017-01-08T13:02:31","modified_gmt":"2017-01-08T13:02:31","slug":"farewell-to-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybigballofstring.com\/?p=660","title":{"rendered":"Farewell to 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well…. 2016 you have gone.
\nDisappeared into the realms of time along with all the previous years of my decades.
\nNot too sure if I’m going to miss you much, although there were some good times in there along with the not so great.
\nI was mulling\u00a0over the following questions that Sunniva<\/a> posed prior to New Year but never got to do more than ponder them.
\nBut now I might just take a very quick look back…
\n…very quick because actually I am too busy looking forward to spend too much time looking back these days.
\nBut\u00a0like Kermit….
\n\"\"
\nsometimes it is good to stop and have a look back and then you see\u00a0how far you\u2019ve actually come.<\/p>\n

So on to the questions Sunniva posed…<\/p>\n

What did you achieve?<\/strong>
\nI achieved the ability to not sweat\u00a0the small stuff and to allow\u00a0those who had my back to help carry\u00a0the stresses of the big stuff.<\/p>\n

What did you love most?<\/strong>
\nI learned to love myself.
\nFor the first time in my life I found me.
\nI love the freedom that has brought me
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

What made you feel successful?<\/strong>
\nLearning to make decisions without fear
\nLearning that if something isn\u2019t working it is not a failure.
\nThat changing direction is ok.<\/p>\n

What was positive about it?<\/strong>
\nI made it\u00a0through the darkest period since Tim\u2019s death,\u00a0alive & sane
\nAnd not only did I make it through, I came bounding out of that dark place and embraced my future with\u00a0excitement and anticipation
\n
\nHow did you grow?<\/strong>
\nI pushed\u00a0myself out of my comfort zone.
\nI fought my\u00a0boundaries
\nI went to war with\u00a0my beliefs and traditions
\nI began forging\u00a0my own path
\n\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

How have you changed?<\/strong>
\nI have become more positive,
\nstronger within myself,
\ntaken ownership of my future
\nand am learning to be completely honest about my past
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

What did you learn?<\/strong>
\nI learned that friends are vital.
\nThat some are with me just for a season.
\nAnd that\u2019s ok.
\nAnd that others will remain glued at the hip.
\nThey will always have my back.
\nI learned who to trust and how to trust
\nand to\u00a0use\u00a0my past because in that sharing comes growth for me and healing for others
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Where did you travel?<\/strong>
\nI traveled to Perth
\nand Auckland & Waikato
\nand Christchurch
\nand Byron Bay & Brisbane
\nand Wellington
\nEach journey\u00a0brought me to a new place in experiences and in personal growth<\/span><\/p>\n

Who do you appreciate?<\/strong>
\nI\u00a0appreciate my friends.
\nI appreciate my children
\nAnd my health
\nAnd my home
\nAnd my place in this corner of the world
\nI\u00a0have finally come\u00a0home and I am content and appreciative for that.<\/p>\n

Who influenced you?<\/strong>
\nOh My!
\nThe influences this year have been wonderful.
\nFrom the famous to those close to me.
\nTaryn Brumfitt <\/a>– you are such an inspiration
\nJust this one quote alone from you has changed my life
\n“MY BODY IS NOT AN ORNAMENT, IT IS THE VEHICLE TO MY DREAMS”<\/em>
\nConstance Hall<\/a>\u00a0– you rock our world.
\nYour raw honesty and humour is so refreshing.
\nMy favourite quote from you would have to be this –
\n“Your summer body is your winter body with a bigger audience.\u00a0<\/em>
\nScales define weight.\u00a0<\/em>
\nHappiness defines beauty<\/em>
\nSummer + body = summer body.\u201d
\n<\/em>And there are\u00a0those close to my inner sanctum who listen and who share and with whom I laugh and cry.
\nTheir influence in my life is immeasurable.
\nNames\u00a0are not necessary\u00a0because you know who you are and I love you dearly for that<\/span><\/p>\n

What are you grateful for?<\/strong>
\nI am grateful for my health and wellbeing.
\nI am incredibly grateful for the years I spent with Tim but am also grateful that he lovingly released me to find myself.
\nAnd I am grateful that I know without doubt that he would be incredibly proud of where I am now.
\nI am also incredibly grateful for my warrior\u00a0tribe.
\nMy tribe of extremely close friends that have embraced and surrounded me during this year.<\/p>\n

And yes I did celebrate New Years Eve.
\nI walked into the city with my two girls.
\nWe enjoyed the last meal of 2016 together at Bacco WineBar<\/a>
\n\"\"\"\"
\n\"\"
\nMahalia went off with Sophie, and Azzan was off somewhere in the crowds with his friends.
\n\"\"
\nEilidh and I\u00a0milled with the crowds at the Cathedral Steps,\u00a0danced to Tomorrow People\u2019s reggae music<\/a>,\u00a0absorbed the atmosphere, drank mochas to keep warm, and just had a wonderful time.
\nHappy New Year everyone – Welcome 2017 \u00a0 \ud83d\ude42
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well…. 2016 you have gone. Disappeared into the realms of time along with all the previous years of my decades. Not too sure if I’m going to miss you much, although there were some good times in there along with the not so great. I was mulling\u00a0over the following questions that Sunniva posed prior to … Continue reading “Farewell to 2016”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[41,31,53,23,47,4,21,57,54,32,58,28,17,60,45,1,51],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybigballofstring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybigballofstring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybigballofstring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybigballofstring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybigballofstring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=660"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mybigballofstring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":678,"href":"https:\/\/mybigballofstring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660\/revisions\/678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybigballofstring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybigballofstring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybigballofstring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}