A day full of possibilities

As we take stock on a new year, we have to also look back upon ourselves, in order to expand for the future.

Last year at this time, I was 3,314 miles away up in Alaska. I still can't believe it myself sometimes. That's one of those things that shows I have guts and determination and the ability to stand up wherever I am and take charge of my life.

That's why this last Calvin and Hobbes strip is so important to me. It was first published on December 31, 1995, a Sunday, and I still have the original I cut out of the Chicago Tribune hanging up in my bathroom where I see it every day. Calvin's childlike innocence of accepting the situation and seizing the best out of it makes me start each day with the same "Let's go exploring!" attitude. It matches the attitude of my tattoo on my right shoulder of the Superman symbol--it reminds me every day to be the best super man that I can be.

So while I do not have any resolutions per se for 2008, I only know that I want to be the best I can be. I know that I will stand up and take charge of things, from being the best father and husband to being the best teacher. Even my hobbies are going pretty well as I still am expanding Independent Propaganda.

That's my real resolution. 2008 will be filled with more of the same as we can't all start over. As U2 sang, "Nothing changes on New Year's Day." However, it is this approach to understanding where you have come from every year, knowing that this year will be the best ever, that makes New Year's Day so special. The real resolution is understanding that today, the start of a new year, is a day to approach the world as fresh as the new found snowfall, which we got in abundance last night down here in Normal, Illinois.

And that's why that comic strip still hangs in my bathroom, reminding me of this feeling every day of the year, whether it is January or June. Approach every day like a kid with a sled on newfallen snow. Explore. As Hobbes says in the strip, "It's like having a big white sheet of paper to draw on."

What will I draw this year?