Brand New Year
Brand New Year
I'm sitting at home now, wearing a Spiderman Snuggie and playing Resident Evil 5 on a Playstation 3. My apartment is freshly cleaned - practically as spotless as it gets for me - and I have a warm cup of hot chocolate as I look out at the snow and music plays over my laptop. I'm back home again after a week with my family, which was a much needed vacation from work, getting to relax over the Christmas and New Year's holiday. I've arrived home safely using GPS which is an amazing little invention, making my trips practically worry-free now, both for me and my family which should not have to worry about me getting lost ever again. Now it's a brand new, bright and shiny New Year, full of possibilities and even better yet, a brand new decade. Life isn't perfect right now - just a few more things I need to make it perfect - but I have to say, it's pretty good. Pretty great in fact.
As you can tell by the above paragraph, I made out pretty good this Christmas. Not only did I get some of the above items, but lots of other gifts and best of all, time with family. It was definitely a different Christmas this year as for the first time in our family's history that we weren't able to be together on Christmas. My brother was in New York and though he was able to surprise us all for Thanksgiving (which was awesome), he couldn't make it home for Christmas. So, we used a service called Oovoo to connect over video chat and through the miracle of the internet. Plus this year, my sister would not be with us for very long, since she had to go basically the next day back home so she could go work on church planting in Africa. I'm so proud of her, but was a little sad that I didn't get to spend as much time with her, because the time that we did spend together, was fantastic.
This year, I was actually looking forward more to the gifts that I was giving rather than the ones that I received. We gave my parents a Wii, which blew their mind and that made it completely worth it. We did good this year. My sister is definitely a Wii fan as she had that set-up minutes after we finished unwrapping our presents and really got into the Wii. Seeing her do a victory dance after she absolutely killed me in baseball (I didn't even know it would invoke the Mercy Rule in Wii baseball, did you?) was definitely a sight to see. It made me wish I'd gotten a video camera instead of Erika this year. Not to say I'm not very excited about the gifts that I did receive and the time that I got to spend with family. Playing Wii with my dad, watching movies with my family, sleeping in, helping take down the Christmas decorations, catching up with everybody, and just relaxing to help bring in the New Year was definitely the way to go.
But now it's a brand new year and it's time to focus on making it one of the best years ever. So, in order to get that accomplished, here are a few of my New Year's Resolutions. For those of you following at home, you can read these and try to keep me accountable or help me in any shape, fashion or form. That'd be fantastic, just like I hope this year will be.
(1) Get A New Job - This is at the top of my list. Not to say I'm not very blessed to have a new job or that this job isn't better than the jobs that some people have to work at, especially in this economy, but I don't find it very satisfying, in any way. It's allowing me to pay my bills, but certainly not letting me get ahead financially and it's not moving me ahead career-wise at all. In May, when my lease is up, it's like 99.9% sure that I won't be staying here and that I'll be moving somewhere for a new job, which will be ideally be closer to family or friends or both. So, if you hear of anything, feel free to let me know. I'd like a new job.
(2) Be A Better Friend - Since I've graduated from college and moved away, I've stayed in contact with many of my friends. One my friends actually just called me to discuss something completely random and that is a great thing. However, there are many friends that I have not been quite as good at staying in touch with and that should definitely change. Friendships and family is what makes everything worthwhile. As a great man has told me repeatedly, everything in life comes down to relationships. Everything comes down to relationships.
(3) Be A Better Person - There are so many things going on in this world that are so right and unfortunately, all too many things that are very, very wrong. I know it's easy in this world that we live in to just want to try to focus on trying to make sure things are going good for you and getting ahead. But, we can't ever forget that there are lots of people in worse situations than you all over and you could make the difference through just a little money, a little time, a little consideration and I want to definitely work more at that this year to make sure that I do my part to make the world a little bit better. There are few things more dangerous than apathy but almost nothing more powerful than love, which can overcome all the evil in this world.
(4) Trust God More - Personally, I need to definitely work on this. As I mentioned up above, I plan on moving here in the next few months to either Indiana or Ohio or somewhere else in the United States. But God, in his infinite wisdom, may choose to have me stay here at my current job or location. God works in mysterious ways, but whatever His plans are, I definitely need to trust Him. I have no idea where I'll be in a few months, but I need to believe that it's where I'm supposed to be.
(5) Get A Girlfriend - More likely than not, I'll find myself a girlfriend (and with any luck, a wife), when I'm not even looking. That doesn't stop my family or friends from looking for me (thank you) and not to say I'm not keeping my eyes and options open. I've been pretty much out of the dating game for a while and haven't been in a serious relationship for years. My attempts to date again have met with mixed and occasionally embarrassing (albeit humorous) results, but all it takes is one girl. This could be the year where I meet the girl of my dreams. You never know. But when it does happen, it's going to be worth all the waiting.
As you can tell by the above paragraph, I made out pretty good this Christmas. Not only did I get some of the above items, but lots of other gifts and best of all, time with family. It was definitely a different Christmas this year as for the first time in our family's history that we weren't able to be together on Christmas. My brother was in New York and though he was able to surprise us all for Thanksgiving (which was awesome), he couldn't make it home for Christmas. So, we used a service called Oovoo to connect over video chat and through the miracle of the internet. Plus this year, my sister would not be with us for very long, since she had to go basically the next day back home so she could go work on church planting in Africa. I'm so proud of her, but was a little sad that I didn't get to spend as much time with her, because the time that we did spend together, was fantastic.
This year, I was actually looking forward more to the gifts that I was giving rather than the ones that I received. We gave my parents a Wii, which blew their mind and that made it completely worth it. We did good this year. My sister is definitely a Wii fan as she had that set-up minutes after we finished unwrapping our presents and really got into the Wii. Seeing her do a victory dance after she absolutely killed me in baseball (I didn't even know it would invoke the Mercy Rule in Wii baseball, did you?) was definitely a sight to see. It made me wish I'd gotten a video camera instead of Erika this year. Not to say I'm not very excited about the gifts that I did receive and the time that I got to spend with family. Playing Wii with my dad, watching movies with my family, sleeping in, helping take down the Christmas decorations, catching up with everybody, and just relaxing to help bring in the New Year was definitely the way to go.
But now it's a brand new year and it's time to focus on making it one of the best years ever. So, in order to get that accomplished, here are a few of my New Year's Resolutions. For those of you following at home, you can read these and try to keep me accountable or help me in any shape, fashion or form. That'd be fantastic, just like I hope this year will be.
(1) Get A New Job - This is at the top of my list. Not to say I'm not very blessed to have a new job or that this job isn't better than the jobs that some people have to work at, especially in this economy, but I don't find it very satisfying, in any way. It's allowing me to pay my bills, but certainly not letting me get ahead financially and it's not moving me ahead career-wise at all. In May, when my lease is up, it's like 99.9% sure that I won't be staying here and that I'll be moving somewhere for a new job, which will be ideally be closer to family or friends or both. So, if you hear of anything, feel free to let me know. I'd like a new job.
(2) Be A Better Friend - Since I've graduated from college and moved away, I've stayed in contact with many of my friends. One my friends actually just called me to discuss something completely random and that is a great thing. However, there are many friends that I have not been quite as good at staying in touch with and that should definitely change. Friendships and family is what makes everything worthwhile. As a great man has told me repeatedly, everything in life comes down to relationships. Everything comes down to relationships.
(3) Be A Better Person - There are so many things going on in this world that are so right and unfortunately, all too many things that are very, very wrong. I know it's easy in this world that we live in to just want to try to focus on trying to make sure things are going good for you and getting ahead. But, we can't ever forget that there are lots of people in worse situations than you all over and you could make the difference through just a little money, a little time, a little consideration and I want to definitely work more at that this year to make sure that I do my part to make the world a little bit better. There are few things more dangerous than apathy but almost nothing more powerful than love, which can overcome all the evil in this world.
(4) Trust God More - Personally, I need to definitely work on this. As I mentioned up above, I plan on moving here in the next few months to either Indiana or Ohio or somewhere else in the United States. But God, in his infinite wisdom, may choose to have me stay here at my current job or location. God works in mysterious ways, but whatever His plans are, I definitely need to trust Him. I have no idea where I'll be in a few months, but I need to believe that it's where I'm supposed to be.
(5) Get A Girlfriend - More likely than not, I'll find myself a girlfriend (and with any luck, a wife), when I'm not even looking. That doesn't stop my family or friends from looking for me (thank you) and not to say I'm not keeping my eyes and options open. I've been pretty much out of the dating game for a while and haven't been in a serious relationship for years. My attempts to date again have met with mixed and occasionally embarrassing (albeit humorous) results, but all it takes is one girl. This could be the year where I meet the girl of my dreams. You never know. But when it does happen, it's going to be worth all the waiting.
Overall, those are just a few of my resolutions and it'll be interesting to see how they all play out over the coming year. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how 2010 goes, but as a writer once said:
"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day."
