2008: Don't Settle

Some of you noticed that I took down my super-mushy post about 2007. Or at least, I deemed it mushy and took it down. It matters not, because 2007 is now firmly behind me and I've taken the necessary steps to live up to my 2008 New Year's resolution, which is solely, "Don't Settle."

In the past I have made lists upon lists of things I would do in a given year - learn Italian, read 50 books, read 80 books, travel, call people more often, yada yada yada.

The only thing that ever got me was a June reality check that I had six months left to do everything I said I would do, which at that point, was impossible.

So starting in November of 2007, I started to think about what a good main goal would be for 2008 and I settled on the idea of not settling at all. For anything. Too often in 2007, I felt that I was letting too many good things pass me by. I realized that I had sometimes given up my own sanity and well-being for causes that weren't worthy. I wasn't doing anything creatively that could fulfill my need to have a better work/life balance. I didn't say what I felt, when I felt it. So many other things I could mention but I think you get the point.

That's not to say the year wasn't without it's highlights - I fulfilled a lifelong dream of going to Greece. I met and fell for an amazing guy that has become my best friend and continues to be the highlight of every day. I moved into an apartment solo, fulfilling a promise to myself to try this before life carried me in another direction. It was definitely a year of change. But that change didn't come without some serious emotional and psychological consequences. Maybe it's something I had to live through to come out better on the other side. In any case, it's not something I care to repeat.

So...with that said, I'm happy to announce that the first action I took in 2008 was to take the first steps in testing the waters of a new career - writing.

Starting in February, I will be cutting back on my current job to part-time and starting to write for a magazine's Web site 2 days a week. As more information on this can be told, I will tell it. But I feel like I'm sticking my toes in water - will it be hot or will it be cold? I'll find out and maybe, just maybe, I can start to create the opportunities that will allow me to have the life I've wanted to lead for so long.

I think life is too short to wake up and wish the day was done. I'm tired of living for 6 p.m. And this is the first step to not doing that anymore.