3 things that have impacted me

Every experience we have in life impacts us in one way or another. In the past 24 hrs I have found a few experiences especially impacting.

First was a question I was asked by a friend this morning:
What's one thing you did or accomplished or made happen that you are proud of or are glad happened to you in 2015?

The second was a conversation I had with a friend today:
We talked in detail about our friends and family whom we have loved and lost to Cancer. 
It is just too many.

The third was an activity I did today with friends:
I went skiing.
                                          

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Friends and Family matter so much in life. What we do effects everyone and everything around us. 

In terms of reflecting on past experiences this past year (2015) I realize there is not just one joy, one accomplishment, one happening that has impacted me this year- there are many and they don't have the boundaries of time. Every experience, like every relationship, has mattered significantly to me. It has influenced who I am. It has gotten me to where I am. 

I realized that while skiing today.

 Many of you reading this have been touched by a loss of a loved one this year.  Maybe not even this year, but in your LIFETIME.  I know these experiences impact our lives greatly and will forever change one's life.  However, in all sadness there is celebration; in all loss there are discoveries. 

I thought about this while skiing today.

               

I went skiing today. I skied with a friend. I skied with a family member. But what I really did today was bring my life with me- while climbing up in silence. As I often say, I do not climb a mtn in AK or ski down without a family member or loved one on my mind. It is the power of the AK experience. The beauty and awe-ness invites reflection of life and all those people who have lived it.

Though my friends, my family and the AK wilderness appear to exist in separation, they all hold me together, everyday. 
                 They all three hold me close to life. 
                         They make up my life.
                                                

Another ski day ends with the realization that friends, family and skiing positively impact my life!

THANK YOU!