2009 - The Year of Bridges

First off, congratulations ... you've made it to 2009.

As sappy as it may seem the older I get the more ambitious about life goals I become. Thanks to an amazing second half of '08 I learned a lot about myself and I'm rolling into '09 with more perspective and this growing support structure. For almost a decade my goals were mostly geared towards self preservation through seclusion from adverse elements of the world.

Over the course of the last few months though, and from no particular or singular event the evolution of myself has undergone some serious paradigm style changes. Honestly self reliance, self preservation, and self control really is a reliable course to stay. However the problem is that there really is only one shot at this thing, and so at the end of the ride, yes you made it the longest and safest, and with the least heartache, despair ... but the question really is ... would you rather live a lifetime as a lamb, or one day as a lion? I use that quote not as the basis. I'm not expecting to go out and become any sort of revolutionary. But as I've been affected by new people in my life, they have passed on towards me the desire to be that person to others that I run into. To inspire the good in people.

Being secluded from others is a selfish waste. Maybe its good that the media outlets are constantly bombarding us with the ill effects of mankind. Maybe we should no longer use that as our excuse to hide, but instead as our excuse to demand change.

Step one for me are my bridges ... right now I've become an island. A self contained and isolated spec on the map. Unsure and unmoving. Afraid to extend my borders into the deep and murky waters surrounding this vessel. You can't truly experience life without relationships. And it's time to start changing that.

What are some of the things I can do?

Reinforcing my existing bridges . My friends should be more aware of my respect and love for them. Disagreements and misunderstandings have in the past sent up barriers ... or more appropriately cause me to burn down the bridges we shared with each other. In a quite fully open expression ... my friends need to know that I care, and that I'm sorry. And even if things are not always perfect and nice, it should not affect that bridge between us. Sappy enough for you yet?

Building new bridges. Fear of the unknown. Fear of the unconventional. Fear of building and possibly losing everything you've put your time and life into. These are things that should not be weighed so heavily. If you're not trying, you're not learning. You're becoming stagnant. You're no longer looking to try and deepen your experience.

Helping support the bridges that not are directly connected to me. I'm not really afraid of what people think of all this. I realize it sounds a bit on the side of some ignorant poetic bullshit. Living as what I considered a realist, or a pragmatist has at least given me perspective as to what types of barriers lie out there on the pathways I am looking to. But i refuse to be deterred, and though I know I am in for a challenge, never more have a I been so certain that this is a challenge I can handle.

And more than anything I am looking forward to my bridges ... I hope you decide that you too are interested in building, fixing, extending, or re-strengthening bridges in 2009 ...