Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Happy New Year

As I start this post there are 40 minutes left in 2008. I looked back earlier this evening at what I hoped I would get out of this year and what I really did. It is keeping me from saying too much about what I want from 2009, that's for sure.

I'll forever remember 2008 as the year I became a father. This was life-changing in ways I have only just begun to explore. I cannot put into words the number of things I have gained, nor the things which I have lost (or at least temporarily misplaced). Change is like that.

The biggest result of this of course is that there is a new person alive today who would never have existed if not for me. This is an incredible responsibility, and I feel humbled by it daily.

2008 wasn't just about becoming a dad, but everything else pales in comparison.

As I said, I'm hesitant to make predictions about 2009. But ...

I think 2009 will be about finding out who we are going to be for the next decade of our lives. We survived the pregnancy, we brought a new life into the world, and we made it through the first six months. Now what? Who are we now, in addition to being parents? How do we reframe ourselves as individuals and as a couple in this new context? Where do my hobbies fall in, which ones are forever gone and which ones can and should I rediscover? How do I reclaim my fitness so I can be there to walk my daughter down the aisle on her wedding day? Where am I going in my professional life? Where are we headed financially? How do we adapt our friendships, our family relationships?

How do we grow, while helping our daughter grow too? How does everything get rebalanced now that there's a new priority #1?

If there's anything that Eager Feet was meant to be about, it's questions like that. There's still room for this blog in my life. I just have to find time to fit it in.

No promises, no resolutions, just questions and ideas.

Happy New Year.