Moving on to the next decade

I've now written two posts about this momentous occasion of the evening, the coming of the new year, neither of which I felt was even remotely interesting enough to post. Shall I sum up the past ten years? Reminisce? Share what I have learned? And then vow to improve for the future?

To confess, I'm not a big fan of new year's. I don't like large parties; I hate the pressure that I felt as a young person to go out and have a wonderful party. I also don't like the idea of once a year examining my life and aiming to improve it, when everyone knows that single days of resolutions are pretty much useless: life change will only happen if you work at it every damn day, not if you drunkenly vow to stop drinking January 1st in your new year's inebriated haze.

This is not to say that I think other people doing these things is silly -- I'm only saying that I know that it doesn't work for me. I think that an evening spent analyzing the past and considering the future is certainly worthwhile; for me, however, I do enough navel gazing all year round that for me yet another night of it is certainly superfluous.

One of the things I've learned this last decade is that self-improvement is a very worthy cause, and that I'll probably never stop doing it at one level or another. This is not to say I'm more or less flawed than any other human being -- self-improvement can range from resolution of personal emotional blocks to reading all one can about the Norman Conquest just for fun. But new year's isn't a time for me to sit down and suddenly decide or announce all the self-improvement I plan to make this year. I figure that I'm going to continue to do it as much as I can, and that it's an on-going process, this year and all years following.

So -- having said all that ...

I'm kind of glad that the first decade of the new millenium is coming to a close -- should we group it together as a time period, it has had a number of wonderful life changes, but also had some pretty dark times that I'm quite glad are behind me. And I've learned a lot, from both the good and the bad times, things that I hope I can remember to carry with me into the future.

There isn't a lot I am looking for from 2010. Top of the list would be delivery of a healthy baby sometime past April 1. Second would be some good health for me, my family, and my friends. That pretty much sums it up. Oh, sure, I'd love to win the lottery, (and / or) get a great new job, buy an enormous new house and travel around the world, but I'm going with necessities here. Another thing I've learned from the last decade is that many many things in your life can be stripped away, but all you really need in the end is your health (as good as it can be) and the people you love and who love you in return.

SO that's it, in the end. I'm not sorry to see the old decade go. I'm looking forward to the new one, especially to the baby who will hopefully arrive hale and hearty in three or four months. I plan to continue to try to be the best I can be as a person, a mother, a partner, a family member, a friend, and an employee. I plan to knit and read and enjoy my life. And I can't wait to see what the future unfolds.

My best to you out there for 2010.