2024 #BYE
No, I’m not saying goodbye to a year that is just beginning. In 2014, I decided I was going to have my “Best Year Ever.” People at work picked it up, and thought I was talking about the company. I let them think that.
I was really talking to myself, about myself. You see, in 2013 I had surgery for neuroendocrine pancreatic cancer. It worked. I was cured (at least for seven years). I decided that 2014 was going to be my Best Year Ever. #BYE. And despite people at my job telling me that 2014 wasn’t our Best Year Ever, it was mine.
In 2013, suddenly, I became ill, became scared, was treated with a fourteen-hour surgery and ten-day hospital stay. I lost a lot of weight, struggled to get my strength back, and missed a long-planned trip to Italy with friends. My daughter went to college, and I couldn’t help her move in because I could lift anything. My son had moved to LA. My poor wife was stuck with mopey me as I recovered. I got back to work after a month or so but was very sick on the road sometimes.
So, the dawn of 2014 to me was a chance to put that behind me, to take stock of all that was good in my life. Thus, #2014 BYE. I looked back at 2013 with a positive mindset. Great doctors had cured me, my daughter spent her last summer at home walking me around the neighborhood holding my hand like she was eight instead of eighteen. My son in Los Angeles seemed to be thriving on and adventure. My boss Weezie and my company allowed me to heal and supported me. My wife, Vicki, did not kill me in my sleep. I’m difficult when I’m healthy, I’m a baby when I’m not. She built me a home office while I was in the hospital, so I had a place to work while I recovered.
Why am I bringing this up ten years later? Because lately I have wondered about the world. I have a great job as Interim Dean at my alma mater, but students today struggle in ways that it is difficult to relate to. Is it the pandemic or social media? Yes.
My cancer recurred three years ago, and I get treated for that, the treatments continue to work, and the outlook is great. Then sometimes you start reading the obituaries and thinking about how long you have.
The news sometimes gets me down. I’m not someone who thinks that the news is bad or negative, but sometimes consuming too much will make me wonder about the future of the world. J6, Covid 19, politics, crime, it’s all too much sometimes.
So, I’ve decided it’s time for #BYE again. There will be hurricane’s, global warming, crime, political nonsense, illness, and lots of problems in the world, even in my world. But since I’m still here, I’m going to do my best to be my best.
I can’t change the world; I’ll just focus on changing myself. Get to the gym more than five times per month. Figure out what I really want to accomplish this year and focus on it. Mentor some students and help them get started on their path. Be a better listener. Eat better, perhaps even drink a little less (well…maybe…). Be a better friend; and do what I can to make this world a better place.
Most of all, I won’t let the things I cannot control take control of me. I’m bringing it back.
#BYE2024