Ringing in the New Year

Jan. 1, 2013 is my 46th New Year.

And about all that means is I can’t stay awake long enough anymore to actually ring in the New Year. The folks at WordPress today — In their Daily Post, Stroke of Midnight — asked: Where were you last night when 2012 turned into 2013? Is that where you’d wanted to be?

For me, the short answers to those questions are:

• Asleep in bed.
• No.

I had plans. Oh, I had plans. But I was likely only fooling myself.

My friends at Warrior Crossfit Muscatine had scheduled a special 10:30 p.m. workout, which they planned to follow with some merriment next door at Samz Sports Bar. I hope they had a good time.

It was not to be for me. I really wanted to go. And at some point in the evening, I even laid down to take a little nap. It seemed like a good way to guarantee I’d be awake at 10:30.

But it was a mistake.

When I awoke from the nap, it was a little after 11 p.m., so I got up, got ready for bed and then went right back to sleep. I didn’t awake again until 4:30 a.m. today.

Yes, I’ve officially become my dad — one of those guys who is asleep every night by 9:30 and awake early in the morning, usually before my alarm even goes off.

I’m OK with that.

Benjamin Franklin, one of the nation’s founding fathers, is often quoted for having said: “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.”

So maybe 2013 will be my year.

If you read this blog at all in 2012, you know that I:

• Lost my job in February.
• Applied for lots and lots of jobs and interviewed for several of them.
• Finally found a good job in October.

In the interim, I biked a lot — including my fifth trip on RAGBRAI. In April, I started working out at Crossfit.

What I learned from losing my job and from pushing myself harder at Crossfit than I would have ever imagined to be possible are the most positive experiences I had in 2012. And I’m grateful for it.

But I feel very much like a work in progress and will keep working hard in 2013 to become even healthier, wealthier and wiser. This morning, I’m not sure I want to spell out how I’m going to reach for those goals. In fact, I may not even know yet myself.

Keep coming back here if you’re interested in finding out because I’m sure I’ll write about it as I stumble along.

I never say this enough: Thank you for finding this blog in 2012 and for coming back to visit. I wish you a Happy New Year. May 2013 be the year we all reach for our goals and dreams.