It’s a New Year.

Maybe 2018 was lovely to you and you’re holding tightly to it because you’re afraid times this good can’t hold. You held your baby for the first time, bought a new house that you’re pretty sure you’re going to live the rest of your life in, worked some kinks out of your marriage, lost weight.

Maybe 2018 was filled with triumphs and rainbows. Maybe it’s the best one yet.

But maybe 2018 was a total bugger and you’re more than ready to usher it out. Maybe you fell into depression or lost a job or are sitting on your couch right now, wondering how in the holy name of Jesus your life flew off the rails like it did. Maybe your kid got lots of attention for all the wrong reasons, maybe your spouse strayed, maybe your dog died or your grandma or every plant on your window sill. Maybe it feels like your very soul itself is withering up.

Whether you are hanging on to 2018 like it’s water and you’re dying of thirst or you’re standing at the door ready to kick it’s butt out, there is truth I feel compelled to speak to you and it’s this: life is this great, incredible, ever-changing thing that ebbs and flows and does them both without your permission. No matter what season you’re in right now, it won’t last. That can be a threat or a promise, but it’s truth.

These days will give way to more days that will be different, good and bad. If you’re sunk down so deep in pain and dark thoughts, they will end. If you’re riding higher than a kite on happiness and contentment, they will end too. That is the beautiful thing about this life.

So today, I offer you this on a fancy platter because I’m writing this on New Year’s Eve so everything has to be fancy: if you hate the spot you’re in right this minute, hang on. If you love the spot you’re in right this minute, hang on. As I type, my husband and 5/6s of my Smalls are at our Children’s Museum with one of my loves and her family and I’m here, in all my fancy costume jewelry and chandelier earrings because one of my Smalls is having crippling anxiety and can’t see his way to leaving the house.

This is not how I planned this day. But next year will be a whole different story and I’ll be 100% here for it. This won’t last. This season will always give way to a new season with it’s ups and downs and we need them both, the ups and the downs, in order to be ok. You need them both. Without the ups the downs would kill you and without the downs, the ups wouldn’t feel nearly as wonderful.

So buckle up, Buttercup, because 2019 is here – with you or without you. And it’ll be full of good things and some bad sprinkled in. Yes, 2019 will be a mixed bag, as they all are. So, march your bad self over to the door, throw it open and welcome it in. Wear your fanciest jewelry and speak in a British accent. If you have a fur stole or a boa, do it up. Politely thank 2018 for the lessons you learned and then stand aside and let 2019 roll in.

2019 is not a thief who comes in the night, stealing your stuff and setting off your alarms. It’s a welcome guest you sit at the head of the table. And sometimes it’ll use it’s best manners and sometimes it’ll put it’s stanky feet up on your Nana’s damask table cloth and pick it’s teef in front of you.

Yes, 2019 will be a mixed bag, but you are so ready.

Bring it.