Thoughts on 2018

So tomorrow is 2018. And I’m just realizing how long it has been since I wrote a blog post. I don’t really know what happened. I had intentions. Good intentions (road to hell is paved with good intentions :) But then I think Christmas and working eight and nine hour shifts, and not getting enough sleep, and lots of things happening happened. But even before that it was kind of off track. I did have some blog posts or blog post type things written, but I never did post them. I might in the New Year, though. But anyway I want to talk about now and 2018.

I sort of went through the same thing I did last year. Christmas was good. It’s hard not to like Christmas. It’s magical and filled with hope, and wonder, and forgiveness. And then it’s over and it’s like oh crap, where the hell is my life even going? How did another year go by and I’m still not where I thought I would be. I’m not even really closer like at all to where I wanted to be. What the hell is wrong with me?

Okay. Maybe a little bit dramatic. But you get the point.

I did do some good stuff this year. Stuff that I’m pinning on God (in a good way). I found a church. I never really thought I’d do that. It wasn’t in the plan. But then I thought about getting baptized (which is a story I might tell sometime), and I kind of needed a church to do that. So I found one, and I got baptized. And it’s a really great church. And honestly, I didn’t think that I’d find one like I did, but I’m really glad I did. They’re helping me become closer to God, and they also are teaching me lots about what things actually mean in the Bible, and the historical context surrounding events. In short, they don’t just say this is the way it is, and that’s that. They explain what’s actually going on, and they’re okay with questions. They encourage questions. But if I talk much more about that, this post is going to stray, so maybe another time.

So finding a church and getting baptized was really great. But everything else sort of stayed the same. Well, actually there were some emotional changes I went through. Which I’m grateful for. But I guess I’m talking about my career/writing goals. Nothing really changed there.

But you know what? Maybe I wasn’t ready. Maybe it just wasn’t time. Maybe it’s because I stubbornly refused to make actionable goals and just sort of winged it hoping something would happen. I mean, I don’t want to be too hard on myself. I did put a novella (The Neighbour) out there. It just didn’t do too well, and I didn’t work on writing as much as I would have like to.

But I wrote out goals for this year. Actionable goals. That I’m going to do with God/try to follow his lead on. If that sounds weird (or this whole post is a little weird), I’m sorry, but hopefully you get the point of what I’m trying to say. Like I said, I haven’t blogged in a while, so perhaps this post isn’t as polished as it would be if I’d been blogging regularly. I’m also writing this New Year’s Eve (currently 6:37 PM EST). So, not much time to let it “sit”.

Anyway, I guess I’m trying to say that I’m hopeful for 2018, and I hope that you’re hopeful too? (And hopefully this post isn’t too bad, and maybe you go make some goals of your own?)

Anyway, hope you have a happy New Year!