This past week was my birthday. I’m not one who is into big parties for my birthdays, although Alyse has thrown me some awesome ones over the years. I do look forward to my birthday as an opportunity to reflect and plan. There is usually too much going on around New Year’s to do any real quiet reflection or actual planning and there is so emphasis on doing so that I find it off-putting. So, instead, somewhere along the way, I started doing that on my birthday (or around my birthday) and I find it much more enjoyable, productive, and useful.
My 35th year was incredible. It was full of the unexpected, some quite painful, but others so joyful that, in the end, the year was one of my favorites! Settling into our new home, Alyse, Calvin, and I somehow managed to get Covid in January, right before my birthday. Covid sucks. We had it nowhere near as bad as others but it still took Alyse and I down for about a week or so. When I arrived at my birthday and annual reflection, I was feeling pretty grateful. We were also struggling. We had been seeking to adopt again for going on two years with almost no progress except new experience from dealing with scammers with surprising goals. A lot of my resolution for my 35th year was to focus on what I had, to dive into what I had already been blessed with, to understand how I was to use it best, and to be grateful.
The first half of the year had some pretty deep lows that I don’t feel like exploring here. I will say that those experiences emphasized the need to be grateful for every moment and what you have already around you. The second half was so full that sometimes I still feel like I’m digesting all of it. Aaron entered our awareness in late May and then entered our lives in August. Lillian entered our consciousness in early August and then joined us in September. The second half of the year was a whirlwind of travel, NICU’s, baby clothing, baby diapers, family, and the joy of an expanded family. I am grateful for my wife, for my children, for my family, for my job, for so much more that made this all possible. I am thankful to God for working all things to a level of good I could not imagine.
So, here I am. On the cusp of my 36th year, reeling from one of the most amazing years of my life. Where to go from here? I believe momentum is one of the most powerful forces on earth. Perhaps that’s not as much of a belief as an acknowledgement but I believe it applies to us mortals as much as it applies to a snowball rolling down a mountainside. With that image in mind, then, its time to go big.
In my 36th year, you can expect me to do that, to try new ideas, to learn from failures, to launch endeavors, and to make connections. More tangibly, I would like to see these side businesses grow and become profitable, use those proceeds to pay off debt from our younger days, and, finally, establish each as a sustainable and valuable brand.
Big goals but if there’s one thing I’ve learned from being 35 its that there’s more out there for you than you have ever imagined.