Last year, I ended the best year of my life in the most beautiful way I could have ever imagined. I watched the last sunset of 2010 and first sunrise of 2011 on the beach nestled in the embrace of great love and happiness, a true dream come true.

This year, I watched the last sunset of 2011 driving home from a beautiful, rewarding day making children smile and will watch the first sunrise of 2012 on my way to another day of magic making.

There were many, many days this past 6 months that I ended by wishing upon every star in the sky that I had not chosen to come here. I was forced to leave the most magical thing that had ever happened to me behind in order to come here and work in the most magical place on earth. And I resented it..God..myself..everyone who encouraged me on this path. I thought I had made the biggest mistake of my life. But I never took a step away from my selfishness and regret to look around me and see how blessed I am to be doing what I am doing right now. I was so stuck trying to understand the past that I didn’t focus on the moments right in front of me.

So, in 2012, I resolve to spend every single night thanking God that I DID choose to come here. For right now, I am happy helping others have an incredible last memory of 2011 and first memory of 2012. I am happy making dreams come true for an elderly woman meeting Mickey Mouse for the first time, for children with life-threatening illnesses, for that family who saved for ten years in order to come to this happy place, all the while knowing that someday soon my own heart’s dream will come true. There is no shame in what I am doing with my degree. No regret for the choices I have made. There is only great joy in this job and in my hope for the future.

Once again, “I am going into an unknown future, but I’m still all here.” - John Lennon