Some say 2012 is the end of the world. Others say the moon landing is a hoax. I give equal credibility to those in both camps. Of course, as we all know, zero and zero are certainly equal.
A new year is an opportunity for new beginnings, a time when we can take a moment to pause and reflect, a time to consider ways to make the year to come better than the one we are leaving.
In 2011, I stopped working as a government bureaucrat. In 2012, I will start working for Space Camp at the Space and Rocket Center. – Drastic change? Yes. Worth it? Definitely.
Money is not everything, to be sure.
While the pay and benefits were good, I spent my days drowning in a sea of highly complex government policies and dealing with the public on those terms. Needlessly complex. Always exhausting. Mentally taxing. With my creativity and motivation drained, I went home each day in a daze, lacking the energy to pursue much else in my free time.
I have always loved science and working with children. By working for Space Camp, I will be able to enjoy both. Living on site will provide me the opportunity to fully enjoy the experience.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said: “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
I find a quote by George Eliot to be inspiring as well: “It is never too late to be what you might have been.”
Finally, Judy Garland: “Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.”
Although he is no longer with us, I also think of my Uncle Vernon and what he told me once: “If you try to be something you’re not, it’s always gonna show.”
On that note, I say let’s bring on the new year! 2012 is a leap year, so that’s 366 days of potential in front of us. Certainly, it is no guarantee that we will be rich, famous, or even necessarily as comfortable as we would like; however, who is to say what the new year will bring? We may not control the traffic, but at least we are behind the wheel.
