2007 Off and Running

It's 2007! How crazy is that?! Yes, I realize that 2007 follows directly on the heels of 2006, but it's the fact that we've made it this far. I remember back in grade school thinking fondly of how the world would be 'different' when it was 2000. Changing from 19XX to 20XX was an abstract concept at the time. Now we are '07. 7 years past that magical year from my past. Did anything particularly special happen in 2000? Not really. By the time 1999 had rolled around, the aura of mystique around the concept of a year 2000 had dissipated, left only with some computer folks wondering if their old equipment would handle the century/millennium change and a few crazies touting the end of the world. Seven years later, the world has not yet ended and computers are doing quite well.

Now that it is 2007, I look back on the year 2006 and realize how many significant events in my life happened. It was also a year of lifestyle changes. 2006 was the year I finally met and dated a man for longer than 1 month of 'serious' dating. 2006 was the first year I fell in love. 2006 was the first year that I could look ahead to the rest of my life, and not see school in it. It was the year I went to my field's national conference to present my research work. It was the last year I will be a full time student (in the foreseeable future), it was the year I received my Master's. It was the year I began my first full time job, that I didn't plan on leaving or going back to part time when school started...a job that I may have in some iteration for the next 40 years. And it was the year where I began to plan what the 'rest of my life' might look like.

There were ups and there were downs, and I would have to sit here awhile to come up with a good list. I am happy to say, however, that there were more ups that downs. Similar to the girl scout adage, I've met new friends, but kept the old...with a few unfortunate exceptions throughout the last few years, and learned some interesting life lessons in the process.
I've learned to be who I am. I am not who everyone wants me to be, and that's OK.
I've learned to let others be who they are, it is not my job to change them.
I've learned that when two peoples' paths go in different directions, even if they have walked side by side for many years, that it is better to point your feet down your own path and continue solo, remembering fondly the time you spent sharing the path. It's sad when the paths diverge, but new paths may merge with yours just around the corner.
I've learned that asking the 'stupid question' is many times the right thing to do...after all, if I have the question, someone else might too.
And I've learned that there is a time and a place to listen, and to ask questions, and to speak - though I'm still working on the implementation of this.
I've learned what love is. I love my family and always have and always will, but it is different - the love that grows from childhood - from the love that develops for another as an adult. It is, and is not, as easy as the storybooks say.
I've learned the value of quiet, of loud, of boisterous, and of calm.
I've learned to assess the situation before I get angry, and to look at things from more than the 'front' angle. There is often more to a situation, and often less. Some things are not worth my anger, or my joy. Some things just are.
I've learned not to fear the unknown, though a well placed whimper is not out of the question.
But most of all, I've learned to look fondly behind me and expectantly ahead of me as the events of 2007 begin to unfold.

I think it will be a good year. I plan to buy a house. I plan to be in the same job all year long. I plan to go visit my brother in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in February. I plan to be active and take a more active roll in my health this year. I plan to be positive. I plan to be suprised (oxymoron, I know). I plan to enjoy myself, and I plan on having fun with family and friends.