My Personal Year in Review

It’s the week after Christmas, a time when news reporters attempt to recover from the holiday stress by putting it on autopilot and running a series of “Year in Review” articles. I’ve never understood why they do it so soon, though. What if Major News occurs during this week – like, for instance, Hilary Clinton is found to be involved in a torrid love affair involving The Situation, or the Dallas Cowboys win a football game? They would have to re-do their lists and thereby get to coast another week. Oh, I see.

Anyway, while I don’t find the reheating of old news to be particularly riveting, there is some value in taking stock of what was accomplished during the preceding year from a personal perspective, if for no other reason than to gain some slight motivation for making the upcoming year a better one.

I achieved two major goals during 2010. I read the Bible cover-to-cover once again, and I managed to average more than 30 minutes of aerobic exercise each day throughout the year. The former is perhaps easier than it sounds, while the latter is harder. But these are the only two goals I set for myself each year, and I get a sense of satisfaction in achieving them, not to mention the unquantifiable-but-real benefits that come with actually doing them.

But a successful year is measured not just in what was accomplished, but also in what wasn’t done, and here’s my Top 10 Things I Didn’t Do in 2010 Thereby Making It a Very Good Year.

• I wasn’t convicted of any major crimes.
• I lost no significant product endorsements.
• I leaked no state secrets to the worldwide media.
• I bought nothing from Microsoft.
• I avoided injury from attacking ferrets.
• I never looked directly at the sun.
• I didn’t play Mafia Wars. Or Farmville, for that matter.
• I avoided scoring a goal for the other team.
• I didn’t buy a vuvuzela.
• And, finally, I never spied on the new neighbors by peeking through their windows while they were home. Unlike my wife. But that’s another Top 10 list entirely.

So, there you have it. 2010 was a pretty darn good year, overall, assuming disaster doesn’t strike during the next four days. But if it does, well, I know how to edit this post.