Here it is – the first week of the new year and the new decade. If you ask most people they are starting to take stock in their lives and coming up with resolutions, or contemplating life-changing decisions. For some people this means standing in front of a mirror and asking themselves what it is about themselves they need to change. Some will look back on 2019 and consider what they didn’t accomplish or perhaps what went wrong. I won’t lie – in some ways I have been doing the same for the past few days. Looking back on 2019 and thinking – wow, that did not go as I had planned it. And boy are their things that I need to change – or worse – fix in myself. As I sit here watching one of the NFL playoff games I have to smile because in some ways the football teams playing will be doing the same. If they didn’t there is a good chance they wouldn’t make it past the first round.

But that is not the same with our lives. In football if you lose a playoff game you get a few months off and then get to start over. I sometimes think it would be nice to get to start over on January 1st. To forget about what happened in the past year and start over with a whole new you. I don’t want to forget about what happened last year – in fact, I have learned some very important things about my life and myself. Last year was not a good year for me, but it was part of my life and it is now a part of what makes me – well, me. Not only that but I don’t really want a whole new me. Saying I need to change means I don’t like who I am, and that is never a good way to start off a new year. Instead I want to improve different parts of me, making me a better version of me. And considering it is 2020 – saying a “Me 2.0” seems to fit rather nicely. There are so many cliches when you cross years like – its 366 blank pages to write your story. I like to think I have a pretty good story going, so again – not going to write my whole story in one year, instead I will work on a new chapter.

As I said, when I think back on 2019 and look forward to 2020 I have decided to improve on some things. And to do so I have to look at 2019 and consider what happened. I had a couple of serious health issues and one that is literally a pain in the back. I also lost my Father and my Mother is getting a little more fragile. What does all of this mean to 2020 and improving myself – it means I have to focus on my health more. It means that I have to continue to find things that can help and listen to others – like adding yoga to my life. It means that I have to eat healthier and continue to go see the doctor when I need to. And it means starting off the year with a 5k power-walk or taking the long way to and from the train for work. For the rest, I am going to focus on me and my family and that means figuring out a better work-life balance. And go back to the things that make me happy – like reading and writing (hence the first blog in quite awhile).

Another important thing for 2020 is to focus on the good things that life has to offer. I don’t want 2019 to seem like it was all bad, because it wasn’t. I still got to travel – including going to Italy for the first time in my life. And spend two and half days by myself – Christine took a weekend in Paris to meet up with some friends – wandering around both Rome and Florence by myself. That reinforced to me just how much I have come to love travel, to learn about different people, different cultures and enjoy different foods. The food – please don’t get me started on just how good the food was. In fact, that might end up being a whole other blog. I guess at the end of the day (or blog) what I am simply saying is that a new year doesn’t mean you have to change, it doesn’t mean you should forget about the past year. Instead consider the past year and ways that you can continue to improve yourself, and take both the good and bad from the past year and use them to build your own “Me 2.0”.