In two months, 2018 is on its way.
I'm old enough to remember when New Year's Eves weren't from the 2000s, old enough that when you saw '2018' as a date on a science fiction film, there were sure to be oddly shaped clothes, sunglasses and incomprehensible fashion trends. And the flying cars. Yes, the flying cars.
But consider this the first 'where do the year go?' column you'll read about 2017.
It was 10 months ago that we clinked our glasses and rang in the year in the hope that this year was going to be different. For some of us it was. Maybe we moved, found love, lost it, found it again and tried to find our place in the world.
Or maybe your year you kept your feet in the ground and were happy about it. You've found your place and your comfort zone and doggone it, you don't want to leave it. Why should you?
But for those whose 2017 hasn't been what you wanted it, whose fault is that? Did you honestly put into it what you wanted to get out of it?
鈥淭rain yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose,鈥� Yoda told Anakin Skywalker in 2005's Revenge of the Sith movie.
Inspiration can come from a lot of things, but the one that personally motivates me is fear. I don't want to miss out on things in life. I don't want to ask questions like 'what if?' Regret is a useless feeling.
And while I didn't specifically say it on Jan. 1, 2017, I feel like this year is the year I personally stepped out of way more comfort zones. I moved two and a half hours away from a city I adore. I started read a lot more and exercise way more. My daily routine would be unrecognizable to those who knew mew 18 months ago as an unhappily married, sad figure just waiting for life to happen to him. Call it a mid-life crisis, except with good things happening and far less convertible cars than I was led to believe this would have.
But still passivity rules in my life. Most people know me as the quiet one and, in some cases in my profession, that isn't a bad thing. The idea that I'm still trying to figure out the best combination of following where the spirit takes me and being far more at the steering wheel of all of the aspects of my life
So the question that I posed up top 鈥� where did the year go? - remains for the reader to ask themselves internally: Where did your year go?
If you're still hovering here with regret in your life, ask yourself what could have done that would have changed the result. Chances are you regret not taking a bit of a chance, not talking to that person that could have changed your destiny or not saying something that could have helped out a tense situation in your relationships.
But it's ok. Don't let 2017 be the year that got away. Start November with saying the things today you wish you would have gotten off your chest a long time ago. And if that doesn't happen, don't worry.
As a matter of fact don't worry, period. Don't try to be a good person. Be a good person. Yoda said: 鈥淒o or do not; there is no try.鈥�
Wrong, has Yoda ever been?
If you're not going to let me inspire you, the least you can do is let Yoda help you into 2018.
