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Happy New Year! And Happy New Blog, too!
Last year I made two New Year’s resolutions, and it was the first time I seriously attempted this. The first was personal, but I’d like to say that it was a partial success. In fact… not a bad job.
The second one I did share last year, and it was a wish to get my life moving again. Specifically, go to college. My first, knee-jerk reaction is that I failed on this completely, but the more I reflect back on it, the more I realized that I didn’t completely fail. No, I’m not in college. No, I’m not really any closer to going to college. No, I haven’t even taken another online class.
But it seems like the more that I push for it, the more I feel something pushing back. I know it sounds like a cop-out, but I’m starting to believe that I’m not supposed to be there just yet, for whatever reason. I’ve been focusing a lot on my job, and you know what? In the last year, I’ve gotten a major promotion and a three-dollar pay raise. For my first job, that’s not too bad. I’m management now, working full time. I have insurance.
This leads me up to next year’s resolutions.
So, six things. We’ll see how this goes, okay?
Sorry, guys. It’s been almost a month and most of you haven’t heard from me at all in that time. Life picks up, I suspect! Anyhow, since this is my first post of 2008… happy new year (again) everyone!
I hate these rushed updates, but I did want to let you all know about one thing that’s happened these last couple of weeks: I got a promotion at work! I got a raise, and now I’m “management in training”… which means that when I turn 21 next month, I’ll officially be a manager. Until then, I’m being treated as a manager and having to learn everything I can. This past week I’ve been really worn out by the time I get home. It’s like being trained all over again. I’m actually being trained for a higher-level job, just in case something happens down the line, I don’t have to be re-trained again.
Needless to say, I’m quite happy with this. Once I get in the swing of things, it’ll be great.
I’ve never had a New Year’s resolution before. Well… I think I had one once in high school, and I think it was to not have a resolution. They just seemed silly to me, like a list of promises that you pretty much just jinxed yourself into not keeping. For the most part, they still do.
I’ve got a couple this year… two, actually. They’re not silly promises I don’t really want to keep (like “I resolve to suddenly become a vegetarian”) or couldn’t keep no matter how hard I tried (like “I resolve to blog once a day, every day for a year” or “I resolve to keep my room shiny clean until 2009″). No, these are actually… attainable.
The first one, I can’t share. It’s a wee bit embarrassing, actually, and pretty personal. I’ll gladly leave you in the dark on that one.
The second one is one that I should have made… well, ages ago. This is the one I really want to check up on in a year, to make sure I’ve done what I said to do. I want to get my life moving again.
I’m almost twenty-one. I need to get up, get moving, and start living. Carpe diem and all of that. I need to get my license. I need a car. I’d love to go back to school. I’d love to get out and just do things, be someone besides an extension of what I used to be. I’ve got an entire year… and an entire lifetime. I don’t want to just be taking up space anymore. I want to do whatever it is that I’ve been put here to do… and do it wholeheartedly. Whatever that means — whatever it takes.
The other night, my family and I went out to a lake in Tecumseh for Rosh HaShanah. It’s like a family tradition with us, to go to a body of water of some sort, and throw bread in the water. I can’t even remember the name of the service; we’ve only done it with others once.
For those not in the know, the bread is supposed to represent our sins. We empty our pockets of sin, and throw it in the water where it is carried far away from us. This is in preparation for the ten days leading up to Yom Kippur, the day of Atonement.
Usually we’ve gone to a moving body of water; a river, a stream, or a lake with movement. This year, the water was like glass. No waves, no movement. I got a completely different experience. As I threw each piece of bread in, it disturbed the water, and well-defined ripples radiated out from it, growing fainter and fainter until they completely disappeared.
It kind of spoke to me… the water wasn’t just taking my sins downstream, for someone else to deal with, but was almost diffusing it… making it disappear.
The fish helped. We attracted lots of them. Anyhow, just felt like sharing. Happy New Year!
… Jeapardy music plays …
Okay, seriously! But we are almost done painting. Only the trim in the hallway and a couple of doors! And the carport is almost all of the way done, and we’re ready to go crazy first thing tomorrow morning, getting everything moved in. Hooray! It’ll take us a week, but I think we’ll be able to do it.
I’m starting to look past the new year now. Not thinking about Hanukkah, not thinking about the new house… but thinking about where I’m going to apply for a job next [Braum's application today!], and how I need to get together with some of my friends. I’m trying to convince Amanda to spend a week in Oklahoma next year, and I’m also trying to rationalize a road trip to Pennsylvania or Texas or both, once I get my license. Oh yeah, I’m planning on getting that too. And I’m going to go back to “school”… basically, getting my German back up to par.
Although you don’t know HOW much I’m debating at least a minor in webdesign. Really and truly. OH!!!! Sam Lincicome [known as the 'VOICE' on the majority of the Lion and Lamb teaching CD's] wants to put up a website, offering voice-over services, that kind of thing, and wants to know if I’m willing to help him. Um, yeah!! Now that I’m learning PHP [expect a truly awesome web layout after the move-in], I could probably make professional websites… right?
Re-evaluating what I want to do with my life. I truly am.