The Process Returns
It’s that time of year again, my faithful readers, where I begin my annual “process,” a month long look back and look forward evaluation of where my life is and where it is going. I start around New Year’s and continue through my birthday near the end of January. I have been writing about it since this blog began and have been utilizing this technique for much longer. Some years it serves as great goal-setting and other years it makes for a nice blog post but is ignored starting the next day.
This past year seems like the latter, partly because I don’t remember what I said last year (I’ll look it up before completing this post) and partly because action on one very important personal matter is still stuck in neutral. I know, however, that I spent more time with people who are important to me, which included some travel to Virginia Beach, Asheville and New Orleans. I saw plenty of live music, including concerts by U2, Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, Keith Urban and Duran Duran. I connected with some old friends I hadn’t seen in years and went to a few pro sports events including the Nationals, Redskins and Capitals.
My road trips were interesting, with activities like beach walks, hiking to waterfalls, wine tasting at Biltmore, photography, a play, a movie and endless conversation. My local friend time was enhanced by my decision to drive to other parts of the expansive DC area like Fairfax, Arlington, Silver Spring, Woodbridge and Baltimore rather than just whine about my daily Frederick-Rockville commute rut.
So what’s on the agenda for the coming year? I am just beginning the process but two things top the list for the first three months: eye surgery and finally turning the page on that personal matter I mentioned. Between January and March, nothing else matters to me. Successfully reaching those two goals will affect April and May too. Some time in the next month I’ll figure out the rest of the year, but right now I need to focus on those two things. I don’t remember what my “word of the year” was for 2011, but the word for 2012 has to be “focus.”
This past year seems like the latter, partly because I don’t remember what I said last year (I’ll look it up before completing this post) and partly because action on one very important personal matter is still stuck in neutral. I know, however, that I spent more time with people who are important to me, which included some travel to Virginia Beach, Asheville and New Orleans. I saw plenty of live music, including concerts by U2, Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, Keith Urban and Duran Duran. I connected with some old friends I hadn’t seen in years and went to a few pro sports events including the Nationals, Redskins and Capitals.
My road trips were interesting, with activities like beach walks, hiking to waterfalls, wine tasting at Biltmore, photography, a play, a movie and endless conversation. My local friend time was enhanced by my decision to drive to other parts of the expansive DC area like Fairfax, Arlington, Silver Spring, Woodbridge and Baltimore rather than just whine about my daily Frederick-Rockville commute rut.
So what’s on the agenda for the coming year? I am just beginning the process but two things top the list for the first three months: eye surgery and finally turning the page on that personal matter I mentioned. Between January and March, nothing else matters to me. Successfully reaching those two goals will affect April and May too. Some time in the next month I’ll figure out the rest of the year, but right now I need to focus on those two things. I don’t remember what my “word of the year” was for 2011, but the word for 2012 has to be “focus.”
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