Hi everyone. It's the New Year, but like every new year it cannot pass without some reflection on the old. So, I'm going to reflect upon some stuff this week. Today's subject are the valuable lessons I've learned, and the knowledge that I've gained this past year.

Everyone, no matter who they are, will always have detractors. No one can be 100% loved, or 100% hated. And no matter what your perception of someone else is, everyone else's is different.

Everyone has the right to state an honest opinion - unless you're a moderator or administrator of an internet bulletin board. Then you can't say anything about *anything* anywhere because there is always someone watching who wants to knock you down a few notches in everyone else's eyes.

I learned that some folks really do get a kick out of the joy of the kill, or love kicking puppies when they're down.

I learned that people hold me to higher standards than they hold themselves, while too many others think the dirt on the bottom of their shoes holds higher value than someone's feelings when they are trying to tell you that they regret their actions.

You can't be nice 100% of the time - it's just not possible. And nice people sometimes do not so nice things.

You can try to help someone with a blunt opinion, but even the most well-meaning advice can be viewed as an attack on a person's sensibilities.

I learned that people that you trust and respect will lose faith in you justlikethat.

I learned that the bonds of true friendship are stronger than any man-made materials ever created.

I learned that love is a very powerful inspiration.

I learned that there are some things that you cannot do anything about, but you must try to learn from them, or do for them as if you could do something about them.

I've learned that someone could tell you to your face that things will be ok, and then change thier minds and not tell you that they did. The silence is deafening, and learning thier thoughts elsewhere can often be a shock.

I've learned that blogging is a wonderful release, but everything you say can also be used against you. Same with email.

Preconceived notions about anything are best thrown out the window - one should look at situations from a child's eyes as much as possible. Even so, sometimes a child's optimism isn't realistic (unfortunately).

That, my friends, is what I learned this year. It's all lending itself to the idea that I really should be more cynical and untrusting, but that's not the person I've become (although it is the person that I once was, a long time ago). If I was still that way I wouldn't have made some of the friends that I've made along the way, but then I wouldn't have lost a couple that were very important to me either (of course, I probably wouldn't have had them as friends in the first place if I were that untrusting). And I wouldn't have learned some of the life lessons that I've learned along the way either. This year I learned some Very Hard Lessons, and ones that I never want to be reminded of...

...except the positive ones.