It's the lunar year 4706 (I got it wrong in the post I wrote a week ago), the year of the earth rat. We begin a brand new lunar cycle this year--for more on the lunar new year and traditions associated with it, click on this link:
And my last appreciation as we begin this new year is for my health. It is probably one of the biggest and yet the truest cliches: if you don't have your health, you don't have anything. I'm recuperating from a bout of stomach flu, and yesterday as the room was spinning around me, and I was in a fetal position on my bed, I realized how lucky I am. I know, a bizarre thing to think about when you are feeling like you've just done 10 rounds back to back in the tilt-o-whirl, but really, I knew that in about an hour, my partner was coming home to take care of me. And I had liquids and was staying hydrated, and I had access to clean water, and I didn't have to worry about taking time off from work the next day to rest. And if I didn't get better, I could afford to go to the doctor's the next day (by the way, for the record I am feeling much better). And this is what every single person on the planet should have access to--water, medicine, shelter, and the ability to stay healthy and to find help when you find yourself not healthy. So I appreciate my health, and when I'm not healthy, the things in my life that afford me the access to get healthy.
So here's to an auspicious new year--full of good health for us all--and for us all to try to work towards a place where everyone of us can live healthy lives.
