The first day of the year.

I spent my New Year's night much differently than I have in the past several years. It was peaceful, and it felt wholesome to be with two long-time friends. We were all tired from something, whether it was work or training. I think a sheltered New Year’s night was alright with us.

I’ve never been one to make huge resolutions but small changes and implementations in my life to improve it in small ways. It’s easy to see why a lot of us make our New Year resolutions such a huge deal and I think it's because it makes setting goals and milestones more enjoyable and it can make it easier to make ourselves accountable.

One of the Christmas gifts I got this year was a calendar for this year and I thought it was a good gift for several reasons. One, I think calendars aren't as widely used due to cell phones, laptops, and digital planners. Two, I haven't ever been gifted a calendar. And three, it's a lot different writing down your day-to-day rather than typing it out. I do plan on using it and writing my important dates on it. I just need to find a good spot to hang it up in my van.

Probably a toxic trait that I have that only affects me is that when a new year or month starts, I'm always quick to think about what the first really bad thing will happen. For example, something with my van, losing my phone, losing an ID, or falling down a flight of stairs. Something, anything that you just don't want to happen, ends up happening, and it's not like I want it to happen but it's how to kick something off and tell yourself well that's the crappy thing to start the year. We can only go up from here… sometimes.