I like New Year’s Day for the same reason I like early mornings and Monday might be my favorite day of the week (now that I don’t work in an office) and I can’t wait until I get to start a fresh journal and I’m addicted to making to-do lists…I love a new beginning. I love starting over.

I didn’t know where I was going. If anything, I was determined to get myself lost so I could get better at knowing where I was. I thought the more often I tried to get myself lost, the less often I would feel lost.

“Does it feel real yet?” “I think so?” I scanned my much emptier home. One stack of boxes sat in the furthest corner, the other behind me. I had been in this house for seven years now, which in the time of typical early-to-mid-20’s apartment hopping felt like a lifetime.

I like to ask people why they decided to reach out to me. Maybe something about my ad piqued your interest, maybe you just love my Twitter, maybe my SEO efforts are finally yielding fruit. I’m not fishing for compliments…don’t get me wrong, I’m not gonna turn down a compliment. I’m a Leo after all. (August 5. Mark your calendars.)

“You aren’t treating this like a therapy session. We’re just talking.” Our conversation had become more serious, but it wasn't a burden. We were talking about our lives...which are kinda stressful these days. Every problem is a crisis. Emergency is the rule, not the exception. The funniest part was…this was very similar to therapy (but not in the way he thought.)

And when I was in positions like the ones I mentioned above, people helped. They might not have a lot either. But they helped because they care about you specifically or they care about people in general or they just understand what it’s like to feel totally helpless…and then have someone help.

I feel like I used to fight time. That sounds kind of silly, but I believe we all have. We want time to be linear, to be structured, to be logical, to be what we want. But look at your life. You don’t plan for some of the best stuff that’s happened just like you can’t plan for misfortune.

Contrary to what some people tell you, you can’t just change your attitude and be peaceful all the time. I like to think of peace like a flower or a plant. If you want certain results: flowers to bloom, new leaves to unfurl – you cultivate an environment where it can flourish. Copious amounts of patience and tending are required.

Sometimes when you grow up in a small-ish Southern town, you wonder, “What if I never leave this small-ish Southern town? What if this is the rest of my life?” Because for some people, that’s what they want because they have their Piccadilly and their favorite Publix…what else would you need?