So here we are...December 2014. I mean seriously, can you believe that there is literally only 2 weeks left to the year?!?!? Whoever said "time flies when you're having fun" was only half right. Time flies no matter what you're doing, so make the most of every moment!! First off, before I get too far, I apologize for not being the avid blogger and smart, albeit smart alecky most times, entertainment to my readers. This year has been a whirlwind and I got caught up in so many changes all at once that I'd probably compare the last 11 and an half months as the fastest up and down, loop-dee-loop, roller coaster ride I've ever been on. You know, the ride where you're terrified as you reach the top of the launch hill and looking down in anticipation you're sadly awakened that this might be a mistake, but the ride takes you away and you get off feeling like you just want to do it again? Yep, that kind of year. Needless to say, I've probably got so much to say and yet I think as we close this year for the next I should revisit the promises I made to myself at the end of last year. You might remember it? "New Year's What?" I don't make resolutions, but I decided to make promises to myself. With old man 2014 about to ring out, it's probably time for me to consider those promises--well, at least see if I managed to keep promises I make to myself.
1. I was going to quit being a "pack rat". Hmmmm. I've been broke most of the year so I didn't really add to the junk I already have but did I actually get rid of stuff? Ummm. I sold a bedroom set. I threw away a lot of paper. A lot of useless, years and years old paper. You wouldn't know it to walk into the office in my new home in SC. Looks like someone backed a dump truck in and plopped it in there. OK, so I'm exaggerating a little, but well, that's technically about 2 rooms worth of stuff and closet stuff in one room smaller that one of the original rooms. Yea, let's go with a win in that category. At least, I haven't taken to collecting old newspapers like my Grams did. A couple trunks full of them. She'd be rolling over in her grave right now me telling that but she (thankfully) opted to be cremated.
2. Not applicable to shoes and purses. OK. So I did manage to buy a new Harley backpack purse. It's really a backpack style. It's a backpack. Yea, I did really well here. I don't think I bought but 2 new pairs of shoes and that backpack that's not a purse. Yes, really well. Just 2 pairs of shoes. Hmmm, now that I think about it that really means I've been broke this year. Next year's promises need to include more shoes and purses. I didn't even get a new purse this year. (Shush. It's a backpack.)
3. I was going to distance myself from difficult people. You know the problem with this is when you first meet some difficult people they are just SO MUCH FUN!! But, of course, that fun comes with the energy-sucking, drama chasing, crazy madness that just becomes exhausting eventually. I actually did super duper good at this this year. I left a job where the craziest laziest women I have ever met in my life made everyone they worked with miserable. I've never met people that would want to work 7 days over working 4 days. The exhaustion can't be worth the money, and I'm speaking from experience. No amount of money is worth having no personal life to speak of. Got those ladies to 4 days and a little hoard of them got together to end those 4 day work weeks. They drove me nuts with non-stop crazy phone calls. I mean some of them were fantastic people, so don't get me wrong. Like Grams said "one rotten apple can ruin the whole barrel"...get about 5 of them together and you've never seen bullying like that before. So yep, best decision I've ever made and a good lesson too. Never stay at a job with miserable people. I know sometimes it seems like there's no other options--been there, done that, but the amount of stress isn't worth it. Life is too precious to give it over to difficult people.
I've also been super successful at distancing myself from difficult people in my personal life. I'm always amazed how difficult people are the ones that cause all the drama and never seem to be able to see their way that they are the cause of it all. Thing is Grams used to say "birds of a feather flock together". Nope. Just the stupid birds. Smart birds get to know people different than themselves. Sure we all like our comfort zone, but when you're the new kid on the block--even though I'm really not since all I did was move home, amazingly it's ALWAYS the difficult, crazy, backstabby people that latch on to you first. You'd think we'd grow out of that. Takes some time to get tired of their crap--like I stated they can be a lot of fun initially, but yes, I distanced myself so fast all they could do was claim that it was the other way around after they finally realized I had done it. Teenagers that go to a new high school often find the crummiest people to hang out with because the crummy ones are the ones that need "friends". Sadly, adults are like that too. If you decide to move somewhere, just remember to take heed that the best friends you will make will come somewhere down the road. They very likely will not be the first ones to try to make you "comfortable". Of course, I'm very proud of myself. As soon as I realized they were more drama than they were worth, I distanced myself with the precision of a butcher knife--yes, gapping wounds when you realize people aren't who you thought they were. But hey have you ever met liars that cared if they disappointed or mistreated anyone else but themselves?
4. I was going to the beach. Have you seen my Facebook? Heck yea I went to the beach!!! We went to the comedy club. We walked the shore and pier near the beach. We were even up early enough to see the sun rise over the Atlantic!! Next year I'm going 2 or 3 times. I LOVE THE BEACH!!
5. I said I was going to fall in love again. I was really specific that I didn't want to just love someone. Loving someone and being in love with them is two entirely different things. So...let's come back to this one.
6. Make one new great friend this year. Well, I've made a handful of good, making their way to great, new friends this year. Have I upgraded anyone to a great friend? Yes, I upgraded 3. I rekindled old friendships that meant the world to me but that I had lost track of--several. I look at some of them and realize how different some of them are. It makes me beam with pride that I can be friends with such diverse people. I always learn something from each and everyone of them and I treasure all of them immensely. What I've realized over the years is friendship is more important than anything. Family can annoy the crap out of you, even let you down. True friends when you have them, they might annoy you too, but true friends never let you down. True friends are the family we choose ourselves.
7. I will no longer beat myself up over what other people do (say or think, for that matter). Let's face it. This year this is just some of the ridiculous stuff I observed and/or dealt with: A grown man pretending to have cancer and right after it went to stage 4 it was miraculously cured less than a week later. A woman who told me that I had no idea what I was talking about after some idiot started an altercation between two other guys when she hadn't even been in hearing range of what was going on and insisted on telling me a mina bird version she had heard from the same idiot that pretended he had cancer. I mean really, I just cannot make this stuff up. Crazy drunken phone calls from an employee, several, and she even left an almost 5 minute voicemail where you couldn't understand but every 10th word if that. A bully who got into my face and was telling me what work she would or wouldn't do. Who gets in their supervisor's face like that? Serious, I really cannot make this stuff up. But yes, those 4 out of all the other ridiculous stuff I observed--especially in the beginning of the year--made it really easy to say to myself: "Not my circus, not my monkeys."
So back to 5. Yes, I did fall in love again. Not right away. The man spooked me at first. I think he told me he had decided he was in love with me like the second date. But there's just something about finding someone where you're both watching something and you look at each other and you're thinking the exact same thing. It happens with us a lot. And he makes me laugh. All the time. He has the same sense of humor. They say "laughter heals the soul". It sure does and so does finding someone that we can communicate with, that understands how we see the world and vice versa, and most of all, someone we can laugh with. I think some people are so miserable that they try to laugh at others, even if it means making stuff up, but laughing at others doesn't heal the soul. The people I see doing this are the most miserable I know. But finding someone that can unlock that laughter where their sense of humor matches yours, well, that my friends is priceless.
So in a nutshell, yes, I managed to keep all my New Year's Promises to myself. Never saw that coming, especially number 5. I threw it in there because I know me. I keep my promises, but I'm so glad that didn't have to be one that I broke. Have a Merry Christmas! Kwanzaa, Hannukah, Celebration of Life, Winter Solstace, whatever rocks your boat! It's the holidays; enjoy friends and appreciate what you have!!
No comments:
Post a Comment