In June I will have been out of high school for ten years. The world is so different now than it was while I was in those halls. My trip out of the "Matrix" began with my rape in 2000 and 2001 was a rough year for me. My brain sort of came apart, I struggled to complete my coursework to graduate on time, I lost all hope of a four year college education, and once I enrolled in community college I watched the world shatter for everyone around me.
This September will mark the tenth year since the Twin Towers fell. I can recall that day minute by minute. It shattered many lives and I am still in some ways trying to process it and wrap it into my experience.
I look back on the last decade I have come through and wonder about all the various changes that have happened. We have been at war the entire time, fighting some evil or another. Many people of my own age group have died defending this country and our ideals.
I got a four year education and promptly discovered that while Archaeology and Languages are passions they are not what I want to do for a living; fought of a young life/quarter life crisis; and ended up at the Florida School of Massage in January of 2010 seeking to find a new me.
I went through several relationships including the one I thought would always be around and in the end I am better for it. It was a hell of a trip though as anyone who was around for any part of them can tell you. I've learned a lot of lessons in the last ten years, and in the last year I received a boat load of clarity.
Yet I also have extremely muddy water to wade through at the moment. There are still many hills and mountains to climb before I can make my dreams a reality, and this year I've decided to follow Molly along and have goals instead of resolutions.
2011 Goals:
1) Complete 1st (and if possible 2nd) draft of 2009's NaNoWriMo Novel
2) Complete Aromatherapist Certification
3) Submit my application (and if possible enroll) at UF for Post-Bacc work in Psychology
4) Get out of DEBT (minus school loans)
5) Appreciate everything in my life more, especially the people
6) Get weight down to 180, or at least between 180 and 200
7) Get healthier: eating, drink more water, exercise
8) Get in shape enough to be able to run 2-5 miles each day without pain
9) Have enough income to actually take a vacation in 2012
10) Begin saving for the bigger goals Logician and I have for our living arrangements.
That's some of them, there are more and I'm sure I will come up with more as we move ahead. What about you all, do you have any goals for the new year?
It does seem like the world has really changed in the last 10 years. I have wondered if it was always like that, but we have just reached a point where we can actually see the changes from an adult perspective and not the sheltered eyes of children?
ReplyDeleteYour goals sound GREAT! They seem challenging, but when you accomplish them you will know you can do anything! Let me know if there is anything I can do to help encourage you along the way.
I had what you call a quarter life crisis in 2008 though I was only 20 at the time. Since then I live by goals. I have to. They have been the only things that have helped me dig myself out of a well.
ReplyDeleteIt's strange to think that only ten years ago I was 12. Just getting over my Spice Girl phase and all.
You have some awesome goals ahead of you! Good luck with them and keep us posted!
Very good goals! Good luck, let me know if I can help.
ReplyDeleteI think my goal is to have a goal. I seem to spend a lot of my time waiting to get a clue.
Happy New Year!