Lots of great changes, appreciation, and finally reflection
In the past approximately nine months, I've gone through a great deal of changes, most good. This past Saturday I was at a Labor Day picnic and was asked by someone who hadn't seen me in over a year, "Hey Andy, what's new?" The only reply I could think of was, "Well, a lot!"
In the past year, I've gotten a raise (pretty substantial), moved out of my Dad's house, bought a house with my longtime girlfriend, Sarah, spend 6 months unpacking my junk (and some junk that a few people dumped on me during my move, the most of which ended up in Goodwill), developed a petting zoo in my new (4 fish tanks, 2 cats, a dog, 2 guinea pigs, and a Chinese Hamster), cut down 7 trees on my property (most of them were dying or too close to the house), bought a brand new mower, replaced a non-working washer and dryer set, worked on and repaired in excess of 14 computers since having moved... the list goes on. But in the spirit of being "connected", I've decided to update my blog, which will also be posted to Facebook for all my "friends" to enjoy...
I've also learned to appreciate the things (not material) that I have... a great girlfriend (whom I've should have married sometime in the past 8 or so years and my entire family agrees with that idea), a great first dog, Petey!!!! and a great family.
When moving, I've been pleasantly reminded of who my true friends are. Certain people, some unexpected, came out of the woodwork to help me into my newly discovered, total freedom from authority (read: parental) figures. Though, not everyone can be totally pleased.
Some people have seemingly alienated themselves from me which I am apparently the only one who can be blamed for such divisiveness. I guess those are the same people who accuse me of being antisocial. Let me just say, they can't be more wrong. Everyone close to me knows, they have an open invitation to visit with me, some of those know they have a place to sleep/live if they should so need. I don't know what it is about people, but I think everyone's always looking for traits in others which reflect their own inadequacies and like to knife you and twist it... letting you know your issues and scream them from the rooftops... let me just say this to you, keep your mostly wrong opinions to yourself. If you think someone else is the issue, I first ask you to internalize that judgment and think, "is it me?" In my experience, it's almost always been me when I'm faced with the aforementioned internalized interrogations.
On a lighter note, I really, really appreciate life. More so than ever. Even though daily, we face obstacles that try us and prevent steady progress, in the end we become stronger from walking tall against any issues in our way. I'm speaking very generally here, but always realize that you can do whatever you want, it's a matter of will. Do you want to? Make sure you do, and understand that you can!
