Friday, January 6, 2012

The Start of 2012


Here I sit, late at night, on a small, mostly empty plane on my way back to Montana. We all know after I finish this I will most assuredly fall asleep. I can’t believe my visit is already over. I guess it was pretty long but it just seems to have gone by so fast. I spent it almost exclusively with family, a bit different then previous trips home but somehow even more special. Most of my friends are off on the adventure that is their lives, even if they are still in the area. We aren’t all home for extended breaks at the same time anymore.  Of course that’s disappointing, but in some ways exciting. Many great things are happening for people and just because I don’t get to hear about all of them in person doesn’t make them any less significant. The world is no longer measured in semesters. I did however get to see my good friend from Pcola, April, who moved down to Tampa recently. I’m so happy that worked out!

New Years Eve, April came over for a bit and had dinner then played board games with the family. Games in the Mettetal household are always interesting. You have Mom, who makes up rules as the game progresses according to what benefits her at the time, Brenda, who is fairly competitive and known for dishing out some trash talk, and me, who doesn’t really get competitive until I win then it’s “IN YOUR FACE” (in so many words). The final character is Dad who walks in and out of the game and contributes to whatever team he feels like whenever he thinks of an answer. He’s like drawing a wild card. It’s fantastic when he happens to come up with a last minute needed answer for your team but when it happens for the other guys this method of contributing is much less appreciated. April carried her own and I’m proud to say she and I won 2 out of 3 games of Outburst. Other scores for other games need not be mentioned…

As it got later April went home and we found ourselves under a blanket on the couch waiting for the ball to drop. Brenda and I saw Mom falling asleep and tricked her with a fake countdown. She didn’t think it was nearly as funny as we did. The ball dropped, we cheered, then fell asleep like the crazy party animals we are.

News Years Day, I got to go back to the church I grew up in for the first service of 2012. A lot has changed there but through it all we know we serve an unchanging God. I decided to make some New Years resolutions and post them here in the hopes that someone will try to hold me accountable.

*I will do my best to maintain daily devotions. I will not however beat myself up when I miss one. I will not regret decisions or mistakes made. I will cherish lessons learned. 

*I will send at least one note a month to encourage another person. Preferably by mail.  I will make an effort to tell people how much they are appreciated.

*Any attempts made at losing/maintaining weight will be done for purely health reasons, not vanity. As a temple what goes on inside is what important, not what the temple looks like. Does that make sense? That said, maybe if I think of it that way it will be easier to make healthy choices.

*I will not purchase or acquire clothes/shoes/etc. without getting rid of an equal number.

*I will not save insignificant things purely because they belonged to someone else before me. A person is in a memory, not an item. Someone else may can use it more than my sense of nostalgia.

*I will  secure my own mask before assisting others. (Okay that one was inspired by the slight turbulence we just experienced.)

2011 was a crazy year for many people. 2012 is a new chance, as is each day, hour, minute. Let’s all see what we can do with the gift of time God has given us.

I think I’m ready for my in flight nap.