2016
here you are. I think it's only right to
reflect upon 2015 before I get to my hopes, goals, and overall feelings on the
coming year. All in all, I'd have to say
that 2015 was a very exciting year. It
was a year of growth, learning, and change.
It's very fitting that this year of change also happened to be the last
year of my 20's. In hindsight, it's
seems extremely fitting that this past year was the last year before I enter a
new phase of my life.
I can
recall sitting on the couch of my old apartment with a glass of 12 grapes in
hand with only 30 minutes left in the year 2014. The 12 grapes at midnight tradition came from
my friend Cindy. She had my friend
Anthony and me join her family in doing it when we were young. I had forgotten about it until very
recently. The first year I did it on my
own proved to be a very good year for me so I decided to stick with the tradition. However, I couldn't shake the feeling that
2015 would be a very tough year. Perhaps
it was my own insecurities that I had seen and experienced too many good
opportunities in recent years. There's
no way that life could spoil me for another year.
I
entered the year with trepidation. I was
paranoid about something going horribly wrong for me. I lived life as if I was standing on a glass
floor with a cavern of infinite depths underneath me. It's a very frightening way to view the
world, it's all I knew for most of my time growing up and even into
adulthood. Thankfully, though, I
couldn't have been more wrong about the past year. 2015 was one of the best years of my life.
I'm the
type of person that only holds a few relationships dear to my heart. The friendships I have had up until this point
have been galvanized over years. 2015
strengthened so many more bonds in my life,
particularly the ones on a professional.
Throughout this year, the relationships I have with my coworkers were
tested because of the natural pressures of the workplace. However, we came together like never
before. Not only that, but I truly
believe that some very strong friendships were forged throughout that
process. I know that's true for me
because I'm a little teary eyed as I think about those amazing people as I
write this.
At the
end of this past year, I wanted to thank all of those people that I work with,
but the excessive amount of sangria that I drank prohibited me. Christine, Kaitlyn, and Stefanie have truly
been my older sisters since I started working with Chamonix and I can honestly
say that I wouldn't be the man I am today without them. I have grown up with them and the past 6 years
have definitely been destiny. What's
even better? I saw each of them grow up
in their own ways and I couldn't be happier to see each of them overcoming
obstacles and accomplishing their dreams.
It gives me great joy to see them happy day in and day out. Particularly after all the obstacles we have
had to overcome individually and as a collective.
2015 also was a huge breakthrough in my
friendship with Bolos. I knew from the
first time I met him that this dude was someone I would along with extremely
well. Despite that, though, we had our
struggles like any friendship. However,
this man showed me so much about the world and definitely helped me grow
up. Even though I thought I had lived a
full life, he showed me that there was much I still did not know. I'm proud to call this man a brother of mine
and that moniker of brother is one that I hold very dear and rarely give out.
Lastly, in 2015 I found out what love is. For the last few years, I gave up on the
whole concept. What was the point? It was easier to just focus on the self and just
live life for me. I couldn't have been
more wrong. Sure love takes work, but
it's so much more fulfilling. It
brightens the colors of the world, amplifies the sounds, and deepens the bonds
of the world we live in. Even though
love and loving someone has setbacks and difficulties, I wouldn't have traded
the experiences for anything. It's been
a magic carpet ride right out of a Disney animated story.
All in
all, 2015 was a very good year for me on a personal, financial, professional,
and romantic level. I have no regrets
about any of the 365 days. I look
forward to continuing the success of the past year and making many more strides
in life in 2016.
