The Top 12 of 2004
So I was chatting tonight (as I am wont to do) and, Mike mentioned that he and bosch were going to do this thing where they wrote about 24 things they learned in 2004, and would I like to play. I agreed, but was fairly convinced that I couldn't come up with 24 things I'd learned last year. At least not 24 things that I'd learned that were worth writing about. So Mike told me to do 12, because that's only one for every month. I figured I could handle 12.
Now, I'm not so sure. But I'm going to try. Here they are in no particular order at all.
- This year, more than ever I learned to pick my battles. It seems like something I should've known for a long time, but I didn't really. I think that in this past year I've calmed down a lot, and now I only fly off the handle when things are really bad. :) Also, when I know something is going to ruffle feathers somewhere, I tend to weigh the benefit of doing something about it before just opening my mouth and speaking.
- Living alone is expensive. I don't think you can ever know this until you actually do it. So, since I've been at home my entire life (save a couple of years when I was at university...which my parents paid for anyway) how was I to know this? I didn't realize how all the little things add up to eat up my entire paycheque, leaving me nothing left.
- Living alone can be lonely. But, only if you let it I think. I'm still working on this part.
- More expensive and bigger is not always better. I'm talking about my car. I really enjoy my new one a lot more than the old one. There's less room inside, but it costs me less, uses less gas, and is slightly cuter than the last one. So, hooray for that.
- Reality is what you can see. End of story. I have this, lets call it a habit, of dreaming up things. Like I see a situation and I'll imagine all kinds of outcomes. This is bad, and I must stop doing it, because I only become disappointed when the results are not what I've imagined them to be.
- Weight loss is not always noticeable. At least not to the person who is losing the weight. I went shopping a couple of days after Christmas and when I tried on clothes I was alarmed. Somehow I've gone down from a size 20 to a 14. It's not so much that I didn't notice it happening, it's more that I looked in the mirror and saw the same me that was always there. I do not look like that anymore.
- Going to weddings alone is a terrible thing. I'm not even sure I particularly want to get married, so it's not that I sit there miserable about how it won't happen to me. It's just that at weddings everyone is paired off, it'd just be nice to have someone to talk to. (Three weddings this year, which isn't a ton, but more than I've ever gone to before)
- Being single can be good. This really is just a silly one. At the last wedding I went to, I travelled with some friends and their parents. At the B&B we stayed in overnight the single room was the most adorable room ever. It had a gorgeous antique bed, which had a beautiful canopy over it. I just felt very girly and like a princess. If I'd had to share the bed, I'd never have been able to sleep in the princess room.
- Location, location, location. The actual location you work in can be very, very different from where you came from even though you're doing the same job.
- Friends are the best family you can have. Because when your family moves away, your friends are still around you on a daily basis.
- It's much too easy to lose touch with people who don't live nearby.
- Patience. It's such a good thing to have, and as much as I try, I cannot seem to acquire it.
Posted by Michelle at January 6, 2005 11:15 PM