Thanksgiving is the time of year when I thank God for the blessings he has bestowed upon me and my family, but I typically find myself in a more reflective mood as years end (and begin, of course).
With that in mind, I wanted to take a minute to reflect on 2010 and what it has meant for me.
As I’ve written here and elsewhere many times, I am truly thankful for my wife and four children. In a couple of days, we’ll be celebrating our 18th wedding anniversary. Frankly, it feels like a lot less time has passed, and that makes me happy. I love her deeply.
My son just turned 12, so before 2011 ends, we will have a teenager living in our house. I remember when my wife took me to the Chinatown restaurant in Austin to tell me that she was pregnant the first time, and how happy I was when I found out we were having a boy. Since then, we’ve been overjoyed to welcome three daughters as well. My son and I are very close, but my little girls have a way of wrapping me around each of their individual little fingers.
My mom remains an important part of my life, and that of my kids. She had a minor health scare a few months ago, but it seems that all is well now, and for that I am certainly grateful.
2010 brought a couple of interesting milestones in my personal life. I turned 40 in August, but it didn’t really faze me. I think the blow was softened by the fact that I lost quite a bit of weight this year (56 pounds as of this writing). Today, I was able to give myself a welcome surprise gift, since I had to get a smaller pant size again. My waist went from a 40 to a 33. I think the last time I worn pants that size was when I was in high school.
Business was good overall, but I’m hoping for a far better year in 2011. The economy seems to be showing signs of big-time improvement, and this fall was our best in four years for my real estate firm, which could be a terrific indicator. I’m planning to expand our company this next year, assuming I find the right agents to do so. 210 Consulting also continues to thrive, but this is also something I hope to grow and hone as time goes forward .
I learned a lot about what really matters to me this year. I remain highly involved in the church that we helped to start a couple of years ago, and I have some ideas for charitable/outreach/mercy projects that I would love to expand upon in the upcoming months on my own.
I enjoy teaching and writing very much, so I might seek more opportunities to conduct classes in my areas of expertise, both locally and nationally via webinars and perhaps recorded audio/video. With regard to the writing, I hope to re-focus my blogging efforts again. This seems like as good a time as any, right?
I would love to hear what you have in store for this new year and beyond. I welcome your input below. 🙂
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuckincustoms/
Jason – happy new year to you and your family! I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to work with you this past (lol) year!
Betsy
Betsy- It was a pleasure working with you this year! Hope your 2011 is
awesome!
Keep up the good job, blessings in 2011!