Final Days

Guys, 2010 is almost here! Out with the aughts and in with the double-digits. I can't imagine what's in store for us this coming decade... people keep saying that this decade has been the worst one in recent memory and that things can't possibly get worse. To my own horror, I can't agree. Come January 1, 2010 all those same problems we have today will still be very real and very relevant. The problems must get dealt with; sadly, terrorists and world hunger and dictators won't just disappear in one magical, 2010 poof. Obama and other world leaders will not wake up with new insights all of a sudden. They'll still be thinking in the same old ways. So, I don't think things will just "get better" simply because they "can't" get worse. And that's scary.

Meantime, real change can happen anytime, anywhere. For me, although "2010" is just a number, its specific demarcation is still helpful. It gives me something to focus on, some way to differentiate that which is past and that which is present. The mind is the most powerful force on this planet; it has the capacity to control our entire attitude toward life and hence, our actions. The usefulness of a "new" year is that it tricks our minds into accepting in with the new and out with the old. Here's what gets me excited for the New Year:

Reading more. EXERCISING more--maybe at least take one walk a day. Relaxing more, as in letting things be (remembering the "little sparrow".) Writing more. Doing even better in school--focusing better. Speaking my mind more. Eating fewer sweets. Drinking EVEN more water. Volunteering a lot more (really must get on this.) Enjoying the skin I'm in; revel in it!

This is the decade that I will graduate college. This is the decade that I will begin my career. Maybe this is the decade that I will become a mother and a wife. This is the decade I will vote for the first time. This is the decade that I will grow up. And I actually couldn't be more thrilled, hopeful, or happy! That's a feat for me, ever the worrier. This is the decade that I will try my hardest to relinquish that bad habit, by the way. Worrying slows you down too much, while also achieving absolutely nothing. It's the pollution on my own horizon, and this decade I'll work on dispelling it.

The beauty of life is that it's ours. Beyond those things that we can't control (death, taxes, natural disasters, foreign policy), the cards are in our hands. Let's celebrate this! There's plenty to worry about on a day to day basis--from a personal but also a global level--but the more I think about it, the one thing you can absolutely control is your outlook. And outlook counts for a lot. Outlook can fuel you to the stars. Not knowing what's ahead, we can only hope for the best while giving our best. We can dream, we can act, we can speak, we can laugh. In short, we can live!

There's a whole beautiful decade ahead of us. It's way has already been guaranteed fears because of the way the present has unfolded. However, we are fortunate enough to live in a country where we are able to exist despite these things. There's a reason we're born who we are, where we were. Who knows? Maybe there's not. Either way, it is what it is, and our only duty, as humans, is that immortal phrase: "Carpe Diem!"

Haaaaappppy New Year! I'm tooting a blower for all of us.