2013: A Year of Ups and Downs, from Superheroes to Gangnam Style

2012 was a bad good year.  There were many things that happened that I loved and just as many that I hated.  The things I hated were mostly of a national aspect but a few were personal, such as:

• Political campaign commercials
• Crazy Tea Party candidates talking about rape
• Mayan 2012 references
• YOLO (I pray I never hear that idiot phrase again…please dear God please)
• The Green Lantern (he was a childhood favorite & that movie just blew)
• Honey Boo Boo
• Gangnam style (I can’t stand that dude)
• One Direction (someone please slap those kids)
• Someone figuring out that you can smoke bath salts
• Newtown, Connecticut
• The inevitable politicizing of Newtown
• The Fiscal Cliff
• The inevitable temper tantrum of the fiscal cliff from both sides
• Losing a best friend and grandma

Some on my list were humorous blips on our cultural map and others were game changers. Newtown shocked us to our core and started a spirited debate on how we move on.

The word rape coming up way too many times by men that have no idea when to shut up, changed entire political races in our country.  

A reality family that should be reported was instead given a TV show and blew up the ratings.

The ever-growing fiscal cliff that threatens to derail our economy is how we end this year.   

For me personally, the loss of two loved ones that were near and dear to me helped define this past year. It was a struggle to adapt to life after that and still is to this day. If you’ve experienced loss in your life then you understand. The lessons learned from those lives were real and will stay with me for the rest of my days, but they were lessons that I would have rather not learned.

But not everything was gloomy this past year. 2012 was also a year of greatness. Here are a few things that happened that I loved:

• Dave Matthews band released a new album and had a killer summer tour
• I quit my job and went after a dream job
• Spirited Presidential debates (Obama sleeping through one and Romney getting killed in another)
• Discovering Moonshiners, Doomsday Preppers and Storage Wars
• The word “Walker” being added to our collective vocabulary (if a zombie apocalypse does take place, sit tight I’ll be there shortly)
• My daughter’s artistic skills really starting to take off
• Listening to my daughter sing in the shower (she really does have a good voice)
• Watching my son fall in love with superheroes
• Having to have daily fights with my son as either Ironman, Spiderman, or Hulk (I’m always the bad guy)
• Understanding how much I truly rely on my wife
• Watching her become an amazing woman and that feeling of pride that I’m her husband
• Another year with my family
• Being a small part of my parents' medical mission in Haiti and helping feed thousands
• Growing closer to our neighbors and watching our kids play together

I could go on and on and on but I won’t. 

2012 was a year of ups and downs. And so will 2013, that’s just life. But what we do with those ups and downs is up to us individually. We can either allow them to dictate life to us or we can use them to propel us forward. We can either allow them to define us or we can use them to continue to grow. We can either allow them to hold us back or we can use them as momentum to follow our dreams. 

Thank you for your part in my last year. Your comments of encouragement and criticism have done nothing but make me a better person. I truly appreciate the time you take to read my humble opinions and then to share yours with me. I do not take that lightly and understand that while I’m the one with the forum we are all in this together. And it is only in that idea of togetherness that we will make this place better for all of our children.

May 2013 be as big a blessing to you and yours as you have been to me.