Chapter 37

Starting Chapter 37

This past year was full of ups and downs. From starting a new hobby, to visiting a new country, to celebrating 10 years of being married to my best friend, to starting a new job, to date nights, to daddy daughter dances, to death of friends, to spending time with friamily, to comedy shows, to meeting famous people, to Broadway shows, Chapter 36 was pretty eventful.

This past year taught me a lot, and in taking those lessons I’ve learned, Chapter 37 will be a great year. Here are some of the things I’m taking with me:

1.       I’m using my PTO. At my last job, I was so stressed at work that the thought of using my PTO would put me further behind in work and in some cases, frowned upon by management. So I didn’t use it or if I did, I worked from home. Being in my new position for a while now, they actually encourage it, so I will take my PTO.

2.       I’m going to do better at keeping in touch. I try to keep in contact with people mainly thru social media, but starting today, they’ll be more phone calls, more visits, more game nights, more double dates, etc.

3.       I’m going to learn something new. I had 5 goals last year I wanted to reach, and some of them I didn’t reach, but in that process I did learn new things and accomplished some other things I didn’t know I wanted to do. So now, this year, there’s not a set number to reach, but a “let’s see how many” I can learn.

4.       I will teach my daughter something new as often as I can. As a parent, one of my main focuses in life is to make sure I, along with my wife, teach my daughter as many things as I can. Whether it’s about handy work, cars, grass, etc, my focus is to make sure she knows we tried. So she’ll be learning a lot of things not only from us, but from experiences we introduce her too as well.

5.      I will make new memories with old and new friends.  

These are things I need to work on, because I’m not perfect in any way, shape or form, but I can do better at trying.  Hopefully they work for me and I’m sharing with you. Everyone is different and everyone has had different experiences so these things may not work for you. But if they do, let me know! 

What else would  you add you this list?

I’m off to enjoy my day and birthday weekend. As I celebrate, I look back at some of the stupid things I did when I was younger and think to myself “I’m surprised I made it this far.” I’m truly blessed and I know I can’t take that for granted. Thank you for all the thoughtful texts, calls, and messages. I truly appreciate it them. Love you guys! A special thank you to my wonderful wife. Thank you for making me a better person, a better husband, and a better father. I love you more than word could ever express. Thank you.