Reflecting on the year that was

2013 will go down as a monumental year for me because it was the year I began my teaching career. The crazy thing is, it was a day away from being the year I gave up chasing my dream of being a high school English teacher. Life is funny. 2013 also marked the year that my girlfriend and I started to have incredibly serious conversations about a life together forever. These two events made 2013 the absolute best year of my life. It continues a trend that started in 2012. Until 2013, 2012 was the best year of my life. I believe that after 2014 is over, I will say that was the best year of my life. The ultimate goal is to make every year better than the one before. It starts with thinking positively. There were a few years there where I was miserable, and just knew the next year would be miserable. This is not the case any longer. I know in my heart that my life is only going to get better from here.

As I reflect on the year that was, I have to be honest with myself and see what did not work. The first half of the year (when I was underemployed) went swimmingly for my physical health. I worked out 5-6 days a week and was at a 13 minute mile, which is a minute away from my goal. However, the second half was not so good. Teaching is not only a full time job, but it is an exhaustive performance. When I get home, it is tough to think about working out. I did not have a very successful physical health life in the second half of the year. I did not achieve the ultimate 2013 goals I set for myself in this category. I have a mental block for 5Ks, which I blogged about last week. I started the year on track to blow by my physical goals, but did not quite get them.

My biggest success of 2013 in terms of my goals was the giving up of soda. I went an entire year without ordering or drinking a soda. I had minor successes in my cooking, writing, and reading goals. While there was a long stretch where I did not cook new things on a weekly basis, I did venture out and cook new things throughout the year. I also stopped relying on recipes for everything. I started to play with flavors and food combinations and found much success. I want to continue with this in 2014. I very much enjoy cooking, and trying new things. I also set a goal to write a short story in 2013. Not only did I meet that goal, but I surpassed it. I wrote a novella! Curbside Redemption is the name of my novella and it is over 14,500 words long. It is imperfect, and I received some excellent notes on it, and I am unsure of what I will do with it from here. When I finished that, I started writing what I hope will turn into a novel. Summer of 2014 will be the summer I write my novel!

While I did not manage to read a book a week as I had hoped, I did finished 2013 having read over 40 books, 43 to be exact. That put me less than 10 away from my goal! I know that teaching dramatically cuts down on my ability to read books for fun, but I still want to try and read as many books as possible this year. When I get into a great book, very few things fulfill me more.

In 2012 I lost roughly 50 pounds. 2013 was not as successful in terms of pure weight loss, as I lost 22 pounds this year. That puts my total weight loss at 72 pounds in the last two years. I am going to commit myself to having an even better 2014 in terms of my weight loss because I know I have plenty left to go. However, 2013 is the year Martina joined me in my journey and enjoyed her own amazing transformation. She is the ultimate inspiration for me, and I know that together we will continue have amazing progress.

In 2013 I went on more hikes than ever before. I ran more than ever before. I enjoyed exercise more than ever before. I ate more good food. I stopped being afraid of all of these things, and was rewarded very well. 2013 is the year Martina and I started to plan life changing vacations, and it is the year I tried to figure out how to be smarter with money. 2013 is the year I stopped craving soda, and stopped putting sugar in Iced Tea. 2013 is the year I was put in a classroom and given the opportunity to teach these amazing young people that will go on to change the world. It the year I shared my journey with my students, and have had students confide in me their own physical challenges and goals and have looked to me for guidance on how to navigate this world that looks down on teenagers. 2013 was the best year of my life...so far.