2019 recap

Like most people, I set some goals for myself at the beginning of the year, time to take a look back at how I did…

Read 50 books

I can say without a doubt that I crushed this goal in the past year. I actually read 55 books this year putting me at 110% of my goal. I’m still reading two books at the moment, but I doubt I’ll have either of them complete before the ball drops in Times Square this evening.

Grow a garden

This one got off to a great start then faltered rather quickly. But failure wasn’t entirely my fault. We got all the things we needed to get the garden going, but a drought and bugs put a quick end to our broccoli, cauliflower, cabbages, and other assorted vegetables. I did screw up a few things when I tried to transplant some of my seedlings, but I gave myself enough time to be able to start over again from seeds. We learned a lot this year, and we’re hoping to get in front of the bugs and any possible droughts next year.

Learn the guitar

I started strong on this one, but slacked off and really haven’t played my guitar much after July. It’s a shame too, I’d built up some really nice calluses, but once transitioning between chords got difficult for me, I took a break and never really went back to it. I’m going to make a concentrated effort on becoming more proficient in the coming year.

Lose weight

EPIC FAIL!!! I did manage to lose enough weight to take my PT (physical training) test and pass but after all the amazing food through the holidays, I feel like my clothes are about to burst at the seams. Objectively, I actually did lose ten pounds from the beginning of the year, I’m currently 220 pounds with 20 pounds more to go to my goal. See all you New Years’ resolution setters at the gym in the next week.

Spend more time at the pool

We did actually spend more time at the pool this year. In fact, when the pool closed, we were really sad. Usually, it’s a knock-down, drag-out to get me to the pool, but I decided early this year I was going to enjoy myself and damn everyone else to hell. Long story short, we went to the pool, I enjoyed myself, and everyone who was judging me (I know they were, you can’t tell me they weren’t), can go to hell. Actually, it’s probably better to just say that they didn’t bother me, we had fun, and that’s all that really matters.

Be more creative

I’m not sure when I started this goal, but somewhere along the way I found that all I do is consume things and I create very little. I’ve made some decent strides on this goal by cutting out all social media from my life with the exception of this blog, reddit, and snapchat. I’ve been blogging on a fairly regular basis, and I’ve found myself dreaming up ideas for books I want to write and stories I want to tell. I signed up for an online calligraphy class I found on YouTube, and I’m looking forward to expanding my writing and creating skills.

Get promoted to Master Chief

Nailed it!! Honestly, I just kept my nose to the grind all these years and I’ve been working my butt off with the hopes that the board would select me, and they did. I was shocked when I found out, but I guess hard work pays off. If I didn’t ever make it, I would have been disappointed a bit, but I wasn’t upset with how far I’d made it in my career. Now that I’m at the top of the enlisted food-chain, there is a huge weight off my shoulders, and I’ve been able to focus on other things.

Learn more about myself and be mindful of my thoughts and feelings

I tried meditating, and I enjoyed it, but I wasn’t able to stick with it as much as I wanted to. In the end, I was paying for an online subscription I didn’t use. That’s okay though, I read a bunch of books on self-help and realized some important truths about myself and about life:

I’m patient.
I’m kind.
I’m intolerant of people who are inept.
I have a temper.
I don’t look at things through another person’s perspective as much as I should.
Life is short and there are only so many F***$ to give, so be mindful of who and what I’m spending them on.
Feeling brain is always in the driver’s seat.
Sometimes feeling brain likes to lock thinking brain in the trunk of the car and steamroll over others on the road.
Feeling brain doesn’t think about things, he feels different ways about things.
Getting feeling brain to describe how he feels is important to keeping thinking brain in the passenger’s seat and not in the trunk.
Be relentless.

Now that I’m thinking about it, we really did a lot this year!

We actually did a ton! It’s funny how fast the year goes by, you look back and think, what in the world did I get accomplished this year. But when you really sit down to go over things, you realize you actually did a lot! I’m proud of us for getting through 2019 in once piece, Lord knows it almost didn’t happen. Now that we’re moving forward, and things are getting better, I’m excited to see what the roaring 20’s will bring.