The year that was…

I wrote my rent cheque this evening, careful to make sure I entered “2009” for the year. Only three hours remain in 2008.

I’ve never been fond of reviewing the outgoing year and making plans for the one coming. I always thought that it was silly because the end of the year is purely arbitrary. One could pick any day for this planning. Thinking this way, it’s easy to not pick a day at all. And why should I have bothered? Each year was much like the next and the previous. I made no plans, so what was there to review?

I’ll remember this year fondly. In August, everything changed. I had a moment of clarity and discovered, to my great surprise, that I was deeply unhappy with my life. So I started to make changes. Some have been more successful than others, but even though everything hasn’t turned out as I might have hoped, I am making progress and the changes I have made have all been for the better. There have been difficulties, but even more joy. I have hope again. I can see what’s important and what is merely distraction.

With a loan, the initial payments go primarily to servicing the interest. Only the later payments really bite into the principal. Similarly, what I’ve done so far is plan, lay the groundwork, and change my habits. I haven’t seen much in the way of results yet, but this is going to start to change in the coming year.

My 2008 was a new beginning and 2009 will be even better as I begin to reap the results of the changes I’ve sown.

But enough about me. A happy new year to you all, my friends!