Saturday, December 30, 2006

Dear 2006

This is it. Today is your last day and tomorrow we start the whole process all over again with your successor, 2007.

I lost some very good friends, 2006. I didn't get a chance to say farewell. Some were due to job issues and I hope our paths will cross again. For another I had the honor to serve as a pallbearer at her funeral. Regardless, I never had the chance to say farewell to any of them.

There were other pitfalls as well. From a personal standpoint I hit some of the lowest points of my 39 years. I got my priorities screwed up: I devoted way too much time to worrying about things over which I had no control; and I didn't worry about some things that I should have. I let myself go both emotionally, spiritually, and physically and probably spent too much time worrying about my own backside.

On a positive note, when you're in the valleys of life you tend to get a better appreciation of mountain tops. This last Fall, I decided that I'd had enough of Top 40 and spent an entire week listening to, and discovering Country music. Yes, I'm tuned to the newer guys like Rascal Flatts and Tim McGraw; but found a certain refuge in some of this stuff. I was songs like Mountains by Lone Star and Kenny Chesney's You Had Me From Hello that gave me perspective on what was important in life.

In all honesty 2006, you weren't a complete bummer. I did successfully fulfill my residency requirement for my degree and in the process made some new friends over the Communications department at UNT. The classes weren't easy, but I learned much and view them all as time well spent. I also completed one of the goals I set for myself as I complete my degree. I was able to spend some good times with my wife, and thanks to her found a few more haunts down around Austin and San Antonio. We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary, and we had some good times in the process. I was able to spend some time with my father, brother, and nephews this Summer and I walked my first 5k on Thanksgiving day.

As a closer to today's missive, here are the lyrics to another song that got to me this year. My wife made me a mix CD this last Summer and this song had me listen to it about a dozen times. It's on the Cars Motion Picture Soundtrack and I recommend an iTunes download if you are so inclined.

Brad Paisley
Find Yourself

When you find yourself
In some far off place,
And it causes you
To rethink some things.
You start to sense
That slowly you’re becoming someone else
And then you find yourself.

When you make new friends
In a brand new town,
And you start to think
About settling down,
The things that would have been lost on you
Are now clear as a bell.
And you find yourself
That’s when you find yourself.

Well you go through life
So sure of where you’re heading,
And you wind up lost
And it’s the best thing that could happen.
‘Cause sometimes when you lose your way
It’s really just as well.
‘Cause you find yourself;
That when you find yourself.

When you meet the one
You’ve been waiting for,
And she’s everything
That you want and more,
You look at her
And you finally start
To live for someone else.
And then you find yourself;
That’s when you find yourself.

We go though life
So sure of where we’re heading,
And then we wind up lost
And it’s the best thing that could happen.
Sometimes when you lose your way
It’s really just as well.
Because you find yourself;
Yeah that’s when you find yourself.


Here's to 2007!
-D

2 comments:

The Missional Position said...

Dan the Man,

Hope 2007 will see better days overall and continued growth as you learn from the ups & downs and live life to the fullest.

Glad to see you discovered some country. I just wish I could have known and turned you on to something other than Top 40 country. Not that what you listed was bad, but you know me I tend to be a purist and obscurist when it comes to music.

Call me a rock snob! I hope to post some bets of 06 lists soon on my blog.

Take for know and know the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way, show them all the beauty they possess inside.

ps love san antone and austin too. dont know as many none touristy, non river walk places in sa. but austin is great for finding the unknown jem: stubbs bbq, waterloo records, amys ice cream, and the shady grove. just to name a few.

AVGeek said...

MMMM Amy's Ice Cream. You gotta hit the Salt Lick at some point next time you're in that neck of the woods. It is the essence of animal.

I wish you and yours a happy and fulfilling 2007.
=D