1/1/11 - Out With the Old, In With the...Well, You Know

So long, 2010.  Can't say I'm too sad to see you to see you go.  Don't get me wrong, you've brought me a lot of blessings.  I've finally achieved stable, gainful employment.  I've finished another script with my writing partner.  I've watched my Youth Group grow and learn spiritually.  I've grown and learned spiritually.  I've enjoyed a full year getting reacquainted with my family after having lived apart from them for over 7 years (3 1/2 of which were all the way on the other side of the country).  I've celebrated my grandmother's 89th birthday.  I've certainly had a lot of experiences for which I am eternally thankful.

But underneath the facade, 2010, you've been a year of stress.  A year of ups and downs...of almosts and disappointments.  You've been a year during which I've struggled and wrestled with myself more than any other I can remember.  I feel like there is some great thing - some awesome adventure - that is waiting just beyond my fingertips.  All through 2010 I've reached for it but haven't quite grasped it.  That feeling of falling short is why I am glad to see 2010 in my rearview.

And why I have an enormous amount of faith in 2011.

Yes, I know we always make a lot of the infamous New Year's Resolutions - most of which are broken before January 2nd.  But there's something about that fresh start of a new year.  It's a new chance to evaluate ourselves.  To see where we've been and anticipate where we're going.  A new year holds the hope that we will finally get it together and achieve the dreams we hold dear.  It holds the promise of opportunity...but it's up to us to cling to the determination to follow through.

This is the first year in quite a while that I've actually written down resolutions.  I've made a point to keep them on my desk so that I can take them out from time to time to remind myself of the vigor in which I rolled into 2011.  Will I achieve all of them?  Honestly, probably not.  But I believe having a tangible reminder of what I expect of myself throughout this next year will at least keep me progressing towards my goals (if not outright achieving them) and prevent me from spinning my wheels as I did in 2010.

If there's one thing that I've realized with the coming of this new year, it's that time flies faster and faster with each year that goes by.  If you're not careful, you'll blink and ten years will pass, and you'll still be standing in the same place with a dazed and confused look on your face.  That's how I've felt about my last 365 days, and I don't want to have a similar feeling with the ringing in of 2012.

So here's to the next trip around the sun.  Here's to the adventure that's just around the corner.  Here's to the next step towards my dreams.  Here's to the death of anxious pessimism and to the rise of hope.  Is it easier said than done.  Of course it is.  But isn't the first step admitting the problem?

Happy 2011, Everyone!