The last few years, I watched less and less network television to the point where I don't have any regular comedy or drama shows that I watch anymore. Nearly all the television I enjoy watching anymore is Turner Classic Movies (which I don't have access to right now). But I decided after the end of Lost on ABC that I was done with the regular networks forever.
One of the last events on network television that I make a point of watching is the Tournament of Roses parade. I love waking up on New Year's Day and flipping on the television just in time to see the floats coming down Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena.
This year New Year's fell on a Sunday, so it was all delayed a day. The parade wasn't until today---the second of January, so yesterday didn't even really feel like New Year's Day, but like an extra day in between New Year's Eve and the real New Year's Day (today). I took the opportunity simply to rest and meditate.
Today finally felt like New Year's. I even watched the Rose Bowl game as well, and was pleased that Oregon won, since my visit to Eugene this past year was a definite highlight of 2011. I stayed there on a game weekend, and my motel was right near the stadium. I woke up there on a Saturday morning to find legions of fans streaming past my window.
But now it's time to face 2012 for real. Yes, I realize it's just a turn of the calendar, but New Year's Day is actually my favorite holiday of the year. I love the chance to start new things, and to leave old things behind. I love making resolutions. I love giving myself permission to overhaul my entire life if I want, and to reorient my thoughts and goals all at once. One can do that at any time of course, but it is never so easy for me to day as it is during the first week of January.
This past year was a tough year personally, as it was for many people out there, but I actually accomplished a lot, and ended the year in a much, much better position in many ways than last year. Financially, I not only was able to get off my back and out of distress, but am in the most solid position I've been in for many years.
Physically, I'm in very good shape too. I spent the last couple months of the year in sharp pain from tendonitis, but the good part was that I discovered the magic of magnesium supplements and was able to cure myself of it. That encouraged me to go further and I've developed my own regime of vitamin supplements, protein whey shakes, and fatty acid tablets.
Never have I felt so good in my life. After years of thinking that my body was in inevitable decline, I've felt like I've been granted a new lease on life. A couple days ago, I went for a walk and wound up going all the way to downtown (five miles). I was going to take the bus back, but decided to walk part of the way back and catch the bus on the way. I wound up walking all the way back as well---ten miles just spontaneously on foot, and at the end I felt no fatigue or foot pain at all. I could have kept walking easily. I haven't been able to do that in many years.
Feeling financially stable and physically fit is a great way to start the New Year. It means I can concentrate on other resolutions for 2012, a year that everyone seems to be dreading. But not me.
Who knows? Maybe next year I'll go to the Rose Parade in person.
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