Happy New Year!
Well, well, well, it's a new year! After a stellar 2006 -- The Great, in fact -- I say it's onward into The Great '07. Who says you can't have two great years in a row? There's always room to look up for the good things!
2006 sure was king for me! Looking back, it seems like a long year, but so many great, fantastic, momentous things happened to me. Right from the beginning, after New Year's '05, I decided I would approach life differently and force optimism from here on out. At that point, I had been going to therapy and taking Lexapro for almost a year, but it wasn't until just after 2006 turned on that I finally let all my closest friends know everything that was going on in my mind. Aside from the total outpouring of support and friendship from all those who mean the most to me -- and it really is impossible to express how great that feels -- airing out my troubles allowed me to finally own my problems and to really take giant strides toward mastering them, which lifted an immense mental burden, in itself.
A year later, now, and I feel great! I can get into small funks every now and then or feel a pang of anxiety here or there, but I know what I need to do to control things and view life in the proper perspective, and use tools for living that I didn't have before. Plus, I know I can express my feelings and I'm not afraid to do so, anymore. Right now, I still continue weekly therapy, which I still feel is very important for me, but I'm considering decreasing my dosage of Lexapro, after consultation with my therapist and G.P., with the possible ultimate goal of phasing it out altogether. So we'll see!
But that isn't nearly all for 2006. I continued to fly through culinary school, and I finally graduated in mid-December, earning my second collegiate degree, and first "post-graduate" one (if you can call an Associates completed after a Bachelors that!) I realized my initial goal of graduating at the top of my class, completing my 4.0 cumulative GPA, which was great. But I made 3 awesome friends in Marcus, John, and Jason, and had a blast with them and plenty others in class over the past 18 months. And on top of that, I learned so much and really think I squeezed every bit of knowledge I could out of that experience, especially having learned under such fantastic instructors. And, topping that off nicely, I now find myself entering the New Year with what I expect to be a great start of a new career in corporate catering!
And to think, only two years ago from now, I was in the midst of a monthlong slide into depression and an existential dilemma. Staying on at the EPA after AmeriCorps ended seemed like the pragmatic option, but I couldn't live with the idea of spending my life in an office. It hurt to consider that, and I couldn't envision a future, either. I knew I wanted to enter culinary school, but it made no practical sense. But, somehow, I disregarded all the suggestions and the advice and the "pragmatism," and did something that I wanted to do, and took the plunge into an entire craft an industry about which I had NO idea, other than a lingering whim. And, at the end of it all, after completion, I can hardly consider myself having done anything else, than get into cooking! I think I really did find my calling, and it seems to be so much of who I am, that I can't believe I ever wavered, in the least! But I guess it is sometimes true that it is the risks in life that make it so interesting, especially when they pay off. And they can change everything.
And everything changed in 2006, for me, more than I can ever have imagined. The year started off with with a personal triumph, and waned with the coincidence of a professional one, as well. But that's nothing, because as The Great '06 drew on, I found myself where I really least expected it -- falling madly in love with an amazing woman I couldn't even have dreamt of! I don't know how it happened -- I know how it happened, but not HOW it happened -- but the stars aligned and fate was in my corner, because from the very first contact by Mindy, I did everything differently than how I've ever known, my whole entire life. And every step of the way paid off, because I quickly realized that I found my soul mate! And that's it, and it's that simple, and it feels so amazing!!
And now when we look at things, it seems like we've known each other our whole lives, when it's just approaching 4 months in another few days. Four months? It seems like 4 years!! In a GOOD way!! I'm so comfortable with Mindy, more than I've ever been with someone before, and I can't imagine being without her. We can't exactly remember the last time we spent a night apart from each other, but it was sometime before Thanksgiving, and we don't want to think about that anyway. It's unreal, but I've already been basically living here in West Chester for about two months. I always realized that it's easy for me to know what I don't like, or don't want, but I could never really say what it is I did want. With culinary school, after beating it out of my mind, I had a sense that it was what I wanted to do. But with Mindy, I KNEW. I knew this was perfection and that I was in love, and I didn't have to second-guess even myself!
2006 came to a close, finally, but I really did get everything out of The Great '06 that I needed, and all that I could. It was a fantastic 12 months where I really just made the most of things, and that paid off more than I could have imagined. When the year started, I was lost and alone, down and in despair. And now I'm just happy and in love, and my whole life is different, and finally I believe I did find some meaning to it!
But who's to say things can't stay great? 2007 may or may not bring all the great events of its predecessor, but that doesn't mean things need to drop off at all. Things can always be great if you want them to be. And that's just how I want it!
2006 sure was king for me! Looking back, it seems like a long year, but so many great, fantastic, momentous things happened to me. Right from the beginning, after New Year's '05, I decided I would approach life differently and force optimism from here on out. At that point, I had been going to therapy and taking Lexapro for almost a year, but it wasn't until just after 2006 turned on that I finally let all my closest friends know everything that was going on in my mind. Aside from the total outpouring of support and friendship from all those who mean the most to me -- and it really is impossible to express how great that feels -- airing out my troubles allowed me to finally own my problems and to really take giant strides toward mastering them, which lifted an immense mental burden, in itself.
A year later, now, and I feel great! I can get into small funks every now and then or feel a pang of anxiety here or there, but I know what I need to do to control things and view life in the proper perspective, and use tools for living that I didn't have before. Plus, I know I can express my feelings and I'm not afraid to do so, anymore. Right now, I still continue weekly therapy, which I still feel is very important for me, but I'm considering decreasing my dosage of Lexapro, after consultation with my therapist and G.P., with the possible ultimate goal of phasing it out altogether. So we'll see!
But that isn't nearly all for 2006. I continued to fly through culinary school, and I finally graduated in mid-December, earning my second collegiate degree, and first "post-graduate" one (if you can call an Associates completed after a Bachelors that!) I realized my initial goal of graduating at the top of my class, completing my 4.0 cumulative GPA, which was great. But I made 3 awesome friends in Marcus, John, and Jason, and had a blast with them and plenty others in class over the past 18 months. And on top of that, I learned so much and really think I squeezed every bit of knowledge I could out of that experience, especially having learned under such fantastic instructors. And, topping that off nicely, I now find myself entering the New Year with what I expect to be a great start of a new career in corporate catering!
And to think, only two years ago from now, I was in the midst of a monthlong slide into depression and an existential dilemma. Staying on at the EPA after AmeriCorps ended seemed like the pragmatic option, but I couldn't live with the idea of spending my life in an office. It hurt to consider that, and I couldn't envision a future, either. I knew I wanted to enter culinary school, but it made no practical sense. But, somehow, I disregarded all the suggestions and the advice and the "pragmatism," and did something that I wanted to do, and took the plunge into an entire craft an industry about which I had NO idea, other than a lingering whim. And, at the end of it all, after completion, I can hardly consider myself having done anything else, than get into cooking! I think I really did find my calling, and it seems to be so much of who I am, that I can't believe I ever wavered, in the least! But I guess it is sometimes true that it is the risks in life that make it so interesting, especially when they pay off. And they can change everything.
And everything changed in 2006, for me, more than I can ever have imagined. The year started off with with a personal triumph, and waned with the coincidence of a professional one, as well. But that's nothing, because as The Great '06 drew on, I found myself where I really least expected it -- falling madly in love with an amazing woman I couldn't even have dreamt of! I don't know how it happened -- I know how it happened, but not HOW it happened -- but the stars aligned and fate was in my corner, because from the very first contact by Mindy, I did everything differently than how I've ever known, my whole entire life. And every step of the way paid off, because I quickly realized that I found my soul mate! And that's it, and it's that simple, and it feels so amazing!!
And now when we look at things, it seems like we've known each other our whole lives, when it's just approaching 4 months in another few days. Four months? It seems like 4 years!! In a GOOD way!! I'm so comfortable with Mindy, more than I've ever been with someone before, and I can't imagine being without her. We can't exactly remember the last time we spent a night apart from each other, but it was sometime before Thanksgiving, and we don't want to think about that anyway. It's unreal, but I've already been basically living here in West Chester for about two months. I always realized that it's easy for me to know what I don't like, or don't want, but I could never really say what it is I did want. With culinary school, after beating it out of my mind, I had a sense that it was what I wanted to do. But with Mindy, I KNEW. I knew this was perfection and that I was in love, and I didn't have to second-guess even myself!
2006 came to a close, finally, but I really did get everything out of The Great '06 that I needed, and all that I could. It was a fantastic 12 months where I really just made the most of things, and that paid off more than I could have imagined. When the year started, I was lost and alone, down and in despair. And now I'm just happy and in love, and my whole life is different, and finally I believe I did find some meaning to it!
But who's to say things can't stay great? 2007 may or may not bring all the great events of its predecessor, but that doesn't mean things need to drop off at all. Things can always be great if you want them to be. And that's just how I want it!