Enjoy life and don't hold back.

I've been starting to see a lot of posts from people making their rounds of the usual New Years resolutions.  A lot of people are going the usual path of "getting back in shape", exercising more, and perhaps even eating better.  Some people are claiming that they will finally drop their vices in an effort for self improvement.  Sometimes it's just going on a diet, cutting out a negative substance from their body such as alcohol, smoking, or drugs.  The resolutions take on a typical format, and usually aren't followed.  I can see this happening every year at the gym.  It seems like in January the gym suddenly gets extra crowded and it lasts for maybe a month or so.  If that long.  Most people can't keep it up and end up falling right back into the old familiar comfort zone of life.  This is exactly why I hate to say that I have a New Years resolution for too much of anything. 

But this coming year, I want things to be different.  It's been a tough couple of years for me, and I am in a different phase of my life now.  I am a parent.  I am single.  I've been thinking a lot the past couple of months about what I've done with my life, and where I'm at now.  I don't regret where I've been by any means.  It has shaped me to become the person that I am today.  I do, however, feel like I gave up a lot of things in the best interest of having a family and getting married.  There were a lot of things that I used to do, that I felt like I had to give up.  Perhaps in a way, I have lost myself in the process. 

I'm finding that I am in a much better place in my life now, and am a lot happier.  I have a good job, make decent money, and have a lot more free time on my hands than I used to.  The majority of the time, I don't have any idea what to do.  I've ended up watching a lot of movies, and killing time more often than I'd like to admit.  Now don't get me wrong.  I am not complaining.  I just feel like there are better things that I could be doing with my time.  Things that I'm missing out on. 

In 2012, I want to enjoy life more.  I want to get out of my apartment more often, and have fun.  I want to go kayaking.  I want to go rock climbing.  I want to exercise.  I want to go to more concerts.  I want to spend more time with friends and family.  I want to go on a road trip or two.  I want to take my Squeek to Disneyland and surfing in the ocean.  I want to take a couple good vacations.  Maybe go on a cruise.  Why not?  Life is good, and I want to enjoy it more. 

I would love to buy my own kayak, and just load it up randomly on the weekends and take off.  Go camping to some random lake, and explore.  How amazing would it be to just take off and skim across some random lake that you've never been to before, and be the first person to break it in?

Maybe even go ocean kayaking again down in Southern California.  That was something that I used to love doing with my Pops.  It would be awesome to do that again now that I'm an adult.  I could take Preslie out on the water and kayak past the Sea Lions at Corona del Mar.  I bet she would love it.

Change is constant in life.  It's unavoidable.  Just when you start to think that you have things a little bit figured out, and have found a rhythm, it can implode and change.  This is where I am now in life.  I want to make the most of it, and enjoy my life more.  I want to do more of the things that I've always been curious about, and wanted to do.  I'm tired of just talking about those things, and saying that I'm going to do them sooner or later.  I am only getting older.  I want Preslie to have more experiences that she'll always remember as she gets older.  Good memories of vacations with her Daddy and time well spent. 

Some of my favorite memories with my Dad were some of the fun vacations we got to go on with him.  One summer, he took my Brother Steve and I to see the Grand Canyon, and then to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico.  It was amazing!  Another fond memory was the vacation when he took us to Mt. McKinley.  I remember that he only brought this tiny little pup tent for us to camp in at the base camp there, where there was currently a very high bear warning in effect.  The tent was only made for 1 adult, so there was no way that all three of us were going to fit in there.  He told us that one of us, meaning either Me, or Steve would have to sleep outside the tent.  I don't remember who ended up volunteering to do it, but he laughed and ended up having Steve and I sleep in the tent of course.  We were sure that bears were still going to get us all night.  Ha ha ha.....good times.  My Dad loved to tease, and still does.  I'm sure that I got a little bit of that from him. 

Needless to say, I am very excited for what this next year holds.  I want it to be fun, and full of adventures.  Not just for me, but also for Preslie as well.