Things to be thankful for ... 2004
* Doubts… about my career, my possibility of finding a job, love and all its stupid implication when it is rotten. Doubts about how much harm I am able to cause and receive and still survive.I’m thankful for all of them because they kept me alive and going, searching for clues, answers and eventually feeling just fine in the middle of uncertainty.
* Truth… sometimes hard to hear and impossible to comprehend yet inevitable.I am happy I found out many things in the past that allowed me to leave it behind and focus on today and tomorrow.This doesn’t mean it was easy.
* Sadness… since it’s the only way of getting rid of the excess luggage one carries from the past.Its weird being glad for being sad, but I learned to stand up, and fall again, and keep trying ‘til I made it and found a “sustainable” happiness.
* Challenges… a year can’t be good without tests and challenges to overcome the current limits.Challenges are also good to eliminate stereotypes and categories that limit one’s actions and reactions.Challenges overcame are things to feel good about.
* Friends… The old ones, of course, for being there for me, despite the distance, in many cases.For opening my eyes, keeping it real, wishing me the best, crying with me, laughing and revisiting old memories. The new ones, because life without everyday friends loses part of its enchantment. For coffee in the morning, and midday snacks, nicknames and soccer bets. For my NY friends, ‘cause they are in my head when it comes time to big decisions, or when I need to remember how to welcome someone new, or just how to enjoy everyday things.
* Surprises… Finding sunshine spots in cloudy days, or having happy endings during bad days, of finding friends in people who behaved as they hated you, building love out of a pool match.
* Love… so different to anything that came before. | 
