A Positive Look Back and Ahead

Well, here we are in the great year 2012! We all made it so far…to this day January 5.

Over the long holiday weekend I found that some people kept giving me well wishes for the new year by asking how it was.

Well, you see I cannot tell you today, Tuesday as I write this column, how my new year was because (as I reiterate) it is only the fifth day of the new year.

I can tell you that looking back as I am told you do just before you move forward, I had a wonderful 2011.

I find people always make resolutions this time of year. They vow to do better, stop smoking, exercise, improve themselves, and other large goals that sometimes last but oftentimes do not.

This year I don’t have a resolution, but I do have a goal.

I am going to look back and 2011 and the good things, and see how I can take those up a notch to make 2012 even better. Just my thoughts:

I have a job that I enjoy despite what I said about the family business in my high school days.

I get to enjoy lunch at the Mexican about once every two weeks with a friend from those days, whose company I enjoy that I could not do without.

I’ve met interesting people, both new, and found that I never actually met the old.

I lost my Papa, unexpectedly in October. It was a difficult time then and it will be each day as I (we) carry on the family newspaper tradition that he began here.

I love my family, and my mentee Summer. They are what make life worth living.

2011 brought my first complete year in a “new” to me house. I’ve learned to be handy, and that 100 year old homes are always cold.

2011 gave me a direction that I want to head towards in 2012.

I watched my beloved Dawgs begin a frustrating season, then go on to be 10-4 for the season. I then watched nervously as they lost to Michigan State in Monday’s Outback Bowl in the third overtime. I also mourned the loss of legendary voice of the Bulldogs Larry Munson in 2011.

I continue to watch the Falcons, and always root for my hometown Braves too.

2011 brought so many things my way that I could write a book about all of my experiences.

I won’t waste your time with all of that personal banter, but I will leave you with a quote I love, “you can forget the past, but never forget what it taught you.”

Begin 2012 with a positive outlook. Take the new year one day at a time. Begin each day as if it were on purpose and make each day and every person that you encounter count, and that’ll be a fine start to any new year.