Ushering In
“2006 will be much of about keeping old promises to myself. A trip I’ve wanted for awhile. Leaving a job I’ve been talking about leaving for years. Going back to school.”
From December 31, 2005.
Not only did I make to Ireland, I swung Costa Rica as well. Pheonix, AZ and Cobb, GA also got added to the list of places I’ve been.
I quit my job. And I’ve never looked back. In all the hand wringing over mortgage payments, the head bobbing at interviews for jobs I could do in my sleep, I have never thought to myself, “If only I could just go back to that old desk and compiler.” Not once. Whatever happens from here on out, I know it’s right for me.
I am signed up for Ecology, Genetics, and Compartative Vertebrate Anatomy. After this semester, I won’t have much more until I can seriously look at grad programs or work in the wildlife field.
2006 included more than I could have hoped for, and more promises kept to myself that I hadn’t even known I’d made.
I found love. I did not sacrifice myself, become someone else, or settle. I do not sit around in fear he will leave or find me less or decide he needs more.
I returned home. While it has been made clear time and time again that returning to the sanctuary was the right thing for me, it was never so evident than this past Saturday when one of GM’s special cats - a cougar - passed away suddenly. He drove up on a golf cart to remove signs from the cage, in preparation for less questions during a busy day of tours, and asked with tears in his throat if I could clean that section.
I made two official resolutions for 2006: to read more non-fiction and to keep all the paper chains I create from paper napkin rings. I kept both those resolutions.
This year, the resolutions and promises are more mundane. After talking about it for over a month, we’ll join the horde of people signing up for gym memberships this week. I’d like to stay on track and keep myself organized better - this past semester I felt the old “doing-too-much-not-well-enough” me creep in. Me first, us second, everything else third.
But in general, I don’t have much to resolve. I like my life. I don’t have huge areas I wish to improve on. I just want to keep the ball rolling. 2006 was an amazing success in my book. I promise myself that 2007 will surpass it.