another year gone

Originally posted April 16, 2007


"Happy new year" I offered half-heartedly. Never having put much stock in holidays, especially minor ones like this one, the "blessing" was more lip service than anything else.


"Another crappy year gone" was my dad's reply. These are the sort of things I had come to expect from my dad. It's funny how two people can be in similar situations but have completely different outlooks. Life has been no cake walk for me in this past year; I've found myself profoundly alone among friends, actually alone 3,000 miles from home, poor, hopeless, and unsure. I've gone from being a student to being a college drop-out, living on my own, and facing the real world. Don't get me wrong; the past year was sprinkled with happiness, but it was more bad than good.


In the face of this past year, it would be understandable for me to have a negative, pessimistic outlook on life, past, and future. That's what's become of my dad. So what makes me different? I don't know... I guess I've just always been of the mind that what's past is past. I've accepted that complaining about and agonizing over what's happened will do you no good; worse yet, doing so keeps you from moving on. I don't know... Call it defeatism, but I prefer acceptance. If there's no changing the past, then why waste your time and energy letting it affect you? Set your sights on the future, even tomorrow, and you may just prevent this coming year from turning out like the last.