In 2016 I only wrote 6 blog posts; one less than the previous year. I really would like to change that this year. Maybe I should start with an easier goal: one blog post every month. That gives me 12 for the whole year, doubling last year. It’s a nice idea for a New Year’s Resolution anyway.
I’ve always enjoyed the beginning of a new year. Everyone does their best to better themselves by making resolutions for the new year. A resolution to work out more, read or write more, or just be a better person. However, most of the time, this only seems to last for a couple weeks, maybe a month at the most. Afterwards, people fall into the same old routines that they vowed to change at the beginning of the year. Why is this?
I believe people give up on their New Year’s Resolutions so early in the year for the same reasons that someone on a diet might eat another piece of cake. “Well, I’ve already messed up my diet today by eating one piece of cake; I might as well eat another one…” It also reminds me of the weeks following a dentist appointment. The dentist tells me to floss every day, so I do for the next four or five days. After that I floss maybe once or twice a week, then I just stop altogether.
It seems that people give up on their resolutions because, having messed up once or twice already, they just figure “Oh well, I’ll try next year…”
This year, I’d like to try something different, and I would invite anyone who reads my blog to join me. This year, treat every day like New Year’s Day. Every day when you wake up, think back to that feeling you had when 2016 was finally over and you had a bright new year about to begin. Try to recall that natural feeling of renewal that comes at the beginning of the new year.
Even though I haven’t yet read this book, I love this quote from Anne of Green Gables: “isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?” The one part of this quote that I always found interesting is the word “yet.” This implies that even though tomorrow is a new day, there will be mistakes; and Anne Shirley is absolutely right. Everybody makes mistakes; what differs is the way people handle their mistakes.
This year, I’d like to have a New Year Mindset every day. I want to remember this feeling of a fresh start, and I want it to last more than just the beginning of January. So maybe instead of focusing on an average New Year’s resolution, my resolution will be to move on and learn from my mistakes, treating every day like the beginning of a new year.
Previously in 2016…
The last life update you heard from me was that I got fired from the newspaper, I started NaNoWriMo, and I was still feeling kind of stuck, but with a passion for something greater burning inside me.
In brief, I got another job! Alas, it was just a seasonal job, meaning I only worked during the Christmas season, which is now over. I was hired by UPS to be a “driver helper,” meaning I was the one who hopped out of the truck and took the package to the front door while the driver was in the back getting the package ready for the next house. In a way, I got to be an elf while the driver got to be Santa. During the week before Christmas the driver wore a Santa hat, and for a couple days I wore elf socks.
It was an interesting job to say the least. It kept me on my toes, which was nice. I didn’t have this much exercise sitting in front of a desk at the newspaper. I wasn’t required to jog from the truck to the front door, but sometimes I would anyway just to keep warm. It got a little chilly sometimes riding in that UPS truck with the door open.
The job also was not without some danger. I got bit by a dog a few weeks ago, about a week before that I almost got my right hand chopped off; plus there were a couple times that the seatbelt (which I was wearing) wouldn’t quite catch all the way when the driver was making a sudden left turn, and I felt like I was going to fall out of the truck. Did I mention I got bit by a dog? UPS wasn’t so happy about that, and I wasn’t too thrilled either.
After attending a brief safety re-orientation, I learned that my first mistake was thinking I could trust the dog that I saw walking up the sidewalk. I hadn’t had any problems with dogs before that, not even dogs that were loose, like this one. The package needed a signature, so I walked up to the front door with the package and the DIAD board. The dog, which I found out later was a pit bull, followed me and began to growl and bark. Mistake number two: not calling out to the driver to honk the horn or distract the dog somehow. I rang the doorbell so I could get the man’s signature, but the dog was still there, standing between me and the truck. I wasn’t moving a muscle, for fear the dog might attack, which it did anyway. It snapped at me, putting a nice hole in the package I was holding, which I had used to block the bite. I rang the doorbell again. The man finally came out to sign for the package. Mistake number three: not informing the owner what the dog had tried to do, and asking him nicely to put the dog away. I would normally have done that, but out of fear, I don’t think I was entirely thinking straight. The man signed on the board, then I handed him my shield. What happened next was kind of a blur. I remember the man saying “He doesn’t bite” and “don’t show any signs of aggression.” There was no way I was going to show any kind of aggression to that dog which was clearly showing signs of aggression towards me. I tried to inch around the dog so I could go back to the truck when the dog jumped at me and bit my right inner thigh. I don’t remember what the dog, the owner, or the driver did after that. I had to go to the back of the truck, take off my pants to inspect the wound. The skin had been broken, but not quite enough that it bled. Mistake number four: not finding out if or when the dog had last been vaccinated. I’m pretty sure it had been, because a few weeks later, and I feel fine. There was a nasty bruise on my leg for a while, which is gone now. I still have a couple teeth marks on my leg which I’m hoping will go away soon; if not though, at least I’ll have a cool scar with a story. On a side note, when I went to the doctor to examine the bite, the doctor said I should have gone to him right away (which was my fifth mistake). He then said that this is my leg, and I shouldn’t rely on anyone for anything. The way he said that made it seem like he had some kind of tragic backstory that caused him to not trust or rely on anyone but himself. It could be an interesting idea for a character for a future story.
Speaking of stories, I unfortunately only hit a little over 4,000 words out of 50,000 for NaNoWriMo. It turns out I am a much slower writer than I thought I was. The hardest part for me was trying to write without editing along the way. Apparently, in order to reach 50,000 words, I am supposed to focus on quantity over quality, which is really hard for me. I never liked having to get an exact amount of words in assigned essays. I like just writing until I’m done with the subject, then moving on. I may try again this year, but I won’t be able to use the story I had started last year.
The story I started to write had only just begun, and now I may never know what will happen next. I may post some, or all of what I wrote someday on here, maybe. I wanted to write a story that was kind of an adventure, horror, mystery. Maybe like a mix between Indiana Jones and Scooby-Doo, with a bit of classic horror movies thrown in. I had started to write a story about a piano tuner sharing a flat with a biologist. The biologist was doing research on a book he was writing on cryptozoology, the study of creatures that have not yet been proven to be real, when he encounters what he believes to be a real werewolf. There was also a house that I randomly decided to burn down, a mysterious piano thrown in for mysterious reasons, and a missing friend who may or may not be behind some evil schemes. That’s about all I had written. I may come back to it another time, just not for NaNoWriMo.
In other life news, starting this year I will be joining A Wish Your Heart Makes, a company that puts on birthday parties and other various events where characters such as Ice Princess, Princess with long hair, and bat-themed superhero come and put on a show. I got a Spider-Man costume for Christmas, so I believe I will be doing some parties as arachnid-themed superhero. I’ve already attended a couple parties just to observe, and it seems pretty fun. The kids also have a blast hanging out with characters, so it’s cool to see their faces light up. Also, it’s a job! However, I’d still like a more permanent job at some point.
Lastly, I should mention a beloved soul that said goodbye in 2016. No, I’m not referring to any of the beloved celebrities we lost in 2016; I’m referring to our dog, Abby. At 12 years old, she had been slowing down tremendously over the past few months. A couple days before we took her to the vet for a humane euthanasia, Abby had moved for the last time when she settled behind the grill. The barked and howled through the night, experiencing pain from her arthritis, as well as some belly pain we didn’t even know about until we got to the vet. The vet explained that Abby was essentially crippled by her arthritis. This was the best thing for her, so that she wouldn’t experience any more pain. She is now with her old mentor Bella, and her best friend Tiger, both of him left Abby while she was still young. She is also now with my grandpa, who called her Floppy, due to her habit of having one ear up, and one ear down; a habit that mysteriously went away right after my grandfather died. Abby leaves behind her friends Polar and Hunny, who are still confused as to why Abby hasn’t come back yet. The picture below I also posted on Facebook, because I believe it captures her personality pretty well. When I took this picture a few months ago, I always kind of thought that I would one day use it for Abby’s obituary, and now so I have.
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| Rest in peace, Abby <3 |
