in lieu of making useless resolutions* i won't hold to (such as the ones i've made previously about cutting out sugar or sarcasm, which were obvious failures), i've decided to cull through the dizzying amount of bad news 2011 brought with it to build a list of all the things that happened this year that i am grateful for, because if i've learned nothing else recently, i've come to understand that life is a process, a journey you might say, and i can't make myself a happier camper by hating on my life or by faking the resolve to change everything overnight. thus, the list of bright lights in 2011:
1) luke landed a dream job at an incredible private school and also made his book club business official. while the year started off rocky for us financially, it most definitely shaped up to be a time of fantastic opportunity for him, which is of course amazing.
2) my brother sam graduated from college and moved home, and as sickeningly sweet as this is going to sound, i have truly loved the chance to get to know him again now that we're both grown ups and are less angsty (well, he is at least).
3) i reconnected with some great people from my hometown and have had the pleasure of hanging out with their adorable babies.
4) this year alone, i've been employed as an osteologist/archaeologist excavating a cemetery, landed an internship analyzing unknown skeletal remains at the coroner's office and have worked/attended meetings with some pretty remarkable people from the city attorney's office. it's difficult to see it while i'm in it, but this year i've literally fulfilled dreams, doing things i'd only ever read about and been fascinated by. totally worth it.
5) i still have a 4.0 in school. i'm only acknowledging this because this list is pathetically short and it's technically a good thing, yes? however, during this year of insanity, i've realized that my decade-old love affair with using grades as a barometer for my life success is over. doing well makes all the craziness worth it, i suppose, but i'm definitely ready for a grade point average to stop ruling my life.
ok, so that was sad - for 365 days of happenings, it's a relatively short list of good things. however, while the bad was pretty bad, the good was exceptionally good. also, this year served as an opportunity to prove to everyone that odd numbered years really are worse than even numbered years. it's not just because i'm a nut, guys! it's true! here's to 2012!
*i'm notoriously not a person of extremes, so making huge blanket statements about how i'm going to CHANGE EVERYTHING usually don't work out for me.
1 comment:
Think of it this way, at least you have some things to be thankful for and at least you are aware of how lucky you are and how much worse it could be. today is the start of a new year and hopefully lots of good to come!!! (See, i've already started on my resolution to have a more positive outlook :-)
Post a Comment