To a Better Year

I will remember 2010 as the year that kicked my @$$.

It was a challenging year. That it had its ups and downs was just par for the course, sure. Yet, on both a personal and professional level, it seemed that the peaks were uncharacteristically fleeting while the valleys were especially deep.

I realize now that at some point I lost my edge. I can't tell you when exactly, but as the year drew to a close it dawned on me that I didn't quite have it all together, that I was in a funk, that without my noticing I didn't care as much as I used to anymore.

And so I am glad that 2010 is now behind me.

The great thing about a New Year is all the promise it represents: all the opportunities to leave the past behind, start anew and wipe the slate clean. Strictly speaking, of course, nothing prevents anyone from giving themselves a reset (hard or otherwise) whenever they want to; yet what better occasion to do so than at the start of the year?

I can't say what 2011 has in store, but I look to it with hope and optimism. I hope it'll be a year of personal victories and professional successes. I hope it will be a year whose challenges I can face with forbearance and equanimity. Above all, I guess I'm hoping it'll be the year I get my edge back and really kick some @$$ -- heaven knows I'm already trying.

Here's to 2011. May we all have a better year than what came before.