If I’m completely honest, I never thought I’d be updating from Europe, and I’m not just talking about this new year post, but any post in general. Sure, I’d dreamed of living in a foreign country, but who hasn’t? I always thought it was one of those things on my “bucket list” that would just always be there, as a quaint thought in the back of my mind. It’s interesting to think about how completely unexpected nearly everything in my life has been. If you had asked me when I was a senior in high school, I would have told you that I was going to go to college and then grad school to become a psychiatrist. Instead I have an English degree (I didn’t love books then), spent 10 years running around the country and playing music with my best friends (I didn’t play bass then), became a triathlete (I couldn’t actually swim then and had never even heard of a triathlon), and moved to Europe (I had never even thought of living abroad and only very rarely thought of traveling). There have been sacrifices--boy, have there been sacrifices--but I consider myself quite lucky. So what’s the message here? Don’t make plans? All of life is an unexpected adventure? I don’t know; I don’t have the answers. I just think it’s amazing where my life has taken me and almost shudder to think how differently my life would have been had I skipped touring for grad school and rushed into a full time job.
2009 was a very turbulent year in the already crazy life I had created. Maybe turbulent isn’t the right word, but a lot of big stuff happened. I went on two tours and the stressful life of scraping-by and touring finally got the best of me, so I quit the band. Maybe the decision is still too fresh, or it’s too early to tell in the grand scheme of things, but that might be the only decision I’ve ever made that I really regret. I knew that if we couldn’t “make it,” at least to the point of being able to support ourselves, then it would have to end some day. I know we had some small success, were able to tour the entire country multiple times, and sell records in Japan, so I should feel good about that, but there’s going to always be a part of me that wishes it could have gone on forever. I ran my first marathon, which I trained for nearly all year. I moved to Hungary, which has been hard, but good for me.
For whatever reason, I think 2010 is going to be a good year. I’m actually looking forward to a little normalcy. I’ll get to come home. I’ll get to see my friends. I might be able to get a really good job. It would be nice to finally start digging myself out of debt, have health insurance, and be able to do little things like buy my family Christmas presents (which hasn’t happened for a number of years). I’ll spend a lot of time swimming, biking, running, and reading. I’ll probably train for another marathon and half Ironman (I hope to do my first Ironman in 2011). I don’t usually get this way with the new year, but I feel like 2010 has a lot of potential, and I’m making plans to make it great so that it doesn’t pale in comparison to the last 10 years that I’ve spent having the best time in my life with my best friends.
3 comments:
I can't think of anything to say about all of this except "Congratulations". It's great to see you are doing so well. Take care of yourself.
That didn't sound right. I think you are kickass for living in Europe. There. That's better.
Glad to hear you're so optimistic about the new year, man! 2010 isn't going to know what hit it. :) A while back my big brother told me he was going to Spain for a week with this girl he knew (not a girlfriend, just a good friend. I think she was engaged or something, too). I remember thinking something like "Spain? LUCKY! Who gets to just up and travel to Spain?" But then I got to thinking...all you gotta do is buy a ticket. And really, tickets aren't *that* expensive. So if you wanna go, what's stopping you? It's great that you just let life take you on these journeys, Eric.
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