moving forward, leaving behind

In Canada, we have this huge campaign from the milk producers telling us to drink milk.  Instead of those zexy milk moustaches sported by celebrities asking if you've 'Got Milk'?  we have this weird 'Never stop, Grow always' slogan.  huh?!

anyway, they have this super cheesy tag line that they spout in every commercial - "In order to move ahead you always leave something behind"... as cheesy as it sounds, there's definitely truth in that statement.

I'm looking back at this year and I realized I took some unusual steps outside of my comfort zone - which finally led me to understand why my life seemed to be cyclical at moments... stuck in familiar but terrible situations.  I really had to leave things behind... and that was to actually leave people that were in my life behind.  I spent a lot of time alone, a lot of time just to understand myself - my weaknesses, my oddities... and although I can't say I enjoyed all my times of solitude, I feel that I understand myself so much more than before.  It's weird how I feel much older than I did only a few short years ago... but I guess it's the experiences that we go through that age us more than time.