It's All about the Journey

I am on a trip right now to visit some close friends of mine in the wondrously snowy North. I have always liked traveling. As I tell many people, my favorite place on earth is an airport. Humans build these massive pieces of architecture for the primary purpose of ferrying travelers to their final destinations, but these are no ordinary destinations. These destinations include the balmy beaches of the Caribbean (Man, that sounds good right now.). Other destinations may include the snowy and regal Alps. Other travelers may be bound to exotic China or mysterious India. Other may be seeking the thrill of a safari in the savannas of central Africa. Whatever adventures are in store for these travelers, their journey will take them (most likely) to an airport. My journey to rural (How do you say that word anyway?) Wisconsin, however, started off in my driveway with my trusty Buick Park Avenue. We have traveled many thousands of miles together, and I hope we can make many more trips before we part. I get this thrill when I pull onto an on-ramp and accelerate to 75 mph. Going fast doesn't give me a thrill, but going forward towards my destination gives me a fluttering feeling in my chest. The best part is that this feeling just gets better over time! Every trip fills me with more excitement than the one before! I just can't wait to fill up my car and drive! I guess that's one of the benefits of being a 21-year-old. I have no fear or consternation about what can happen on the trip; I don't worry about where I'm going to stop for gas or what I'm going to eat for lunch. I am focused on the journey itself: the feeling of hundreds of miles slipping from underneath my Park Avenue. This weekend will find me coming home, and I will be just as excited about that trip. "How can you be so excited about such a dull, dreary task such as driving?" one may ask. I can be excited about traveling because it's all about the journey.

My Bane

January -- this month always haunts me. The first month of the year is when I consider the mistakes of the past semester and try to avoid the same pitfalls in the upcoming one. The worst part about this analysis is the inevitability that I will still make the same dumb choices. I will always get myself involved in too many activities, and I will not be as organized as I want to be, and I will always be doing things at the last minute. Each semester, this is the picture that I end up with despite my pre-planning efforts.
This semester is entirely different, however. I will not be at school, but I will be taking classes. Online classes are my bane. I never "go to class," so I always forget about my assignments. Many times, the date that something is assigned and the date that something is due are so far removed that I forget about homework completely. Despite this problem that I have with online education. I am resolving at this moment to get myself organized. I will not let my inner procrastinator win. He will be conquered by lists, binders, and the almighty planner! I will stand victorious over his prostrate corpse at the end of this semester and shout to the heavens my glorious victory!

Who am I kidding?! Oh boy, spring semester; this is going to be a long four months.

Time

The New Year has been rung in. The Ball fell in New York; fireworks were fired until two in the morning in my neighborhood; and many people pondered what they were going to do with the entire year of time given to them. Such dramatic changes can happen in a year. Prosperity can be lost or found. Health can be improved or lost. Peace can give way to war, and strife can find a lost-sought calm. Because of the weight of importance of a new year, people want to make the upcoming year the best one that they have ever lived. They strive to "turn over a new leaf," start a diet, exercise more, and spend more time with their families. However, after the beginning of the year has passed, the pressure to maintain those goals is lost. Those big decisions no longer carry the weight that they did at the beginning of the year. After three months of diligence, the newness of the decision wears off; the pressure of the new year fades; and people find themselves in a post-New Year depression. Around the end of February is my season of New Year's blues. The year seems endless, and I feel completely ineffective at changing myself for the better. This problem, however, I am hoping to avoid in 2014. While everyone else looks at the whole year of 2014 with each of its 365 days looming before them in an ominous mass of formless time, I choose to look at the year differently. The only difference between yesterday and today is the numbers on my computer screen. Nothing earth-shattering happened when the calendar changed from /13 to /14. January 1st is just another day. A day I can handle. All that I must be concerned about is today. Tomorrow has not come yet, and the rest of 2014 is going to be long in coming. I was given today, and this one day (January 1, 2014) is what I'm going to live for. How can one conquer a year? He can do it, but he must do it one day at a time.