Resolutions, Schmesolutions

Another year has come and (almost) gone, and we've reached that point where millions of people in quiet desperation say "Next year will be better! Next year I will be better!"

Not me.

The last New Years Resolution I made was so very cliche--to stop smoking--and we all see how well that turned out! (Nevermind that I was talked into it by Evil Ex Roommate who promptly started smoking again less than a month later, qualifying it by saying "oh I never really wanted to quit, just cut back a little... if I can only smoke when I go out, I'm happy with that"... you can imagine just how long *that* lasted.)

But I digress.

To me, New Years Resolutions are of the same ilk as Valentines. Just like choosing one day of the year to actually express your affection for the people you care about, what is the point of choosing one day a year to say NOW I will be a better person? NOW I will do all the things I should have been doing for the last 27 years of my life...?

You can just as easily choose to turn your life around on the 23rd of March. Or, as I did, somewhere in late December when you're temping in a law firm and some lawyer you've just met asks what you're waiting for... why don't you apply to grad school NOW?

Because, you see, 2007 really has been a turning point for me in my life, almost entirely due to going back to school. For the first time in, well, ever really, I feel like my life has some direction.

I'm not entirely sure what that direction is, but I'm headed somewhere. I feel like I've been treading water for the past five years, and while I've had a great time doing so, the feeling of stagnation was starting to overtake me. Now I feel that I'm genuinely moving forward, and that feeling? It's pretty damned good.

So I won't bother with a Grandiose Recap of 2007, mostly because I can't think of anything really significant that happened prior to September. So maybe that's when I should celebrate my own personal New Year. Hmmmm... not a bad idea really.

I've got a good feeling about 2008, and not just because the stars are aligned in my favor. I'm in a good place now. I've got a plan, a trajectory that may shift course slightly, but I know more or less where I'm headed.

2008 will bring travel. First to Uganda (which, dear god, I leave for in a scant 5 days!), and then hopefully to Ireland and Brazil in the Summer. I am also hoping to maybe, for the first time ever, actually travel during my Spring Break--Spain or Amsterdam anyone?

2008 will bring the continuation of school--new classes, new people (like New Guy, who I met at A's party, who is starting my program in January), as well as the return/continuation of old friendships--Slater, and yes, B.

2008 will also bring the completion of my Master's Degree. 'Nuff said.

And, most importantly, 2008 will bring surprises. New discoveries--about myself, about others, about life--new friends, new experiences, new chances.

That is, I suppose, why it's called a "New Year."

So raise a glass, my friends, and toast yourselves. Who you are now. Who you will become.

Resolutions be damned.