Adieu To ’22
Crazy realization…
It has, somehow, been 4 years since the MileNerd days. Huh? I stopped writing a daily miles and points blog…4 years ago?? Could have sworn all of that was just yesterday. This whole time thing needs to chill, right?
Alas, it never will.
As we accelerate into the holiday season, here are my scattered thoughts and observations from 2022…
- Favorite purchase of the year? Theragun (yes, I’m old).
- Critical things to be great at in this crazy world? I nominate:
Stress management and ability to focus.
Massive connection between those 2 things and what someone accomplishes with their time. - Birthday parties for babies. Why?
- Lessons. They’re what you receive when you don’t get what you want. Wise people pay close attention. The masses lick wounds and wait for that same lesson to appear yet again.
- Movie theaters in airports. Who says no?
- How to know when you’re old? It’s right around the time you start making sound effects when you stand up.
- Seek clarity in your relationships.
- Most underrated skill? You see it in the people who routinely say things like this with ease:
“That’s on me.”
“I screwed that up.”
“Wow, I had this all wrong.”
Really observe. Watch how those people always seem to grow. Not a coincidence. Most don’t want to see where they have things wrong. They’ll build their entire universe around that avoidance. Remaining stuck until the end. Do everything you can to avoid that mental prison. Search out the ways you are wrong. - Speaking of babies, why do their clothes have pockets?
- Favorite movie of the year? “Everything Everywhere All At Once.” By a wide margin.
- If you back into parking spaces…reevaluate everything.
- “Attitude is the difference between an ordeal and an adventure.”
- How to know when you’re old? It’s right around the time you start asking, “When did college students start looking like high school kids!?”
- As the world keeps score of every screwup in a “Gotcha!” way, it becomes more important to fight this in ourselves. Our world may have forgotten. We must remember. Mistakes are ok. Messing up was never supposed to be a way of proving that someone sucks. We can be better than that.
- Have Apple Pie a la Mode for breakfast at least once before you die.
- Generalize less.
- Listen more.
- Truly forgive someone who has wounded you before you die.
- Favorite meal of the year? Hawksmoor, New York City.
- Still having heavy conversations in writing? Don’t justify it. Just be honest. That comes out of laziness or, more often, fear. And it’s not helping you or anyone else. If you care about someone, this is part of you show it in our new world. Don’t have those conversations in writing.
- Favorite athlete of the year? Steph Curry.
- Confidence is only possible when you show up for yourself.
- Self-loathing is only possible when you believe a lie about yourself.
- Elevators seem like a pretty straightforward process. The people inside walk out. Then, the people outside walk in. How are we still struggling with this?
- Don’t forget to breathe.
- Emotional maturity is rare. Most people don’t even know how to define it. Being obsessively even-keeled and repressing your emotions is not maturity. So, what is? For one thing, not shutting down around emotions (including your own). Being able to handle healthy pain, anger, intimacy, and intensity. Knowing it’s all a normal part of life. And being able to differentiate (A) someone trying to hurt you, from (B) someone just being a human being with feelings.
- If you include politics in your social media bio…reevaluate everything.
- Just because you’re done with your past…doesn’t mean your past is done with you.
- You are not your crazy thoughts. You are the observer of them.
- If you won’t change habits, nothing will ever get better.
- How to know when you’re old? It’s right around the time you have a favorite mug and form strong opinions about salt shakers.
- Give in to love. Before it’s too late. Maybe you grew up in a home that didn’t show you a healthy form of love. Hurt people hurt people, right? Maybe you never figured out how to put down the self-protection. But there is someone in this world who deserves your trust. All of it. In our youth, we didn’t understand it because we couldn’t. But now it’s clear. There’s nothing more special than love. Allow it in. Accept it with care. And treat anyone who gives it to you with kindness.
- As a society, we literally use “literally” incorrectly.
- Trying to please everyone is a great way to ensure you won’t please anyone all that much.
- Who do you want to be in 5 years? How would that person spend today?
- How to know when you’re old? It’s right around the time you develop a magical ability to drink one beer and wake up fat.
- “A different version of you exists in the mind of every single person who knows you.”
- Fight for yourself and your wants. Nobody else can. There isn’t a cavalry that exists to do that job. Somewhere inside is a person with dreams – and the clock is ticking fast.
- How to know when you’re old? It’s right around the time you strongly consider Birkenstocks.
- Don’t auto-reject the people and things outside of your comfort zone. Turn down the volume on head-shaking. Turn up the volume on curiosity. Swim around in discomfort.
- If you feel it’s wrong for people to use their reclining seats as intended…reevaluate everything.
- Favorite quote of the year? “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”
Finally, I know this has been a rough year for so many of us. In a wide variety of ways. If you need to hear this, please hold on to hope. You. Fucking. Matter. Rich or poor…happy or miserable…popular or lonely. No matter how much the world can make you feel otherwise…you matter. And you always will. It isn’t something you have to earn.
I wish you a very happy holiday season.
See you in 2023.
