The Year of Living Awesomely

As birthdays1 are wont to do, I’ve found myself both reflecting on the past year and thinking ahead to what may be next.

Caution: This is one of my rare 100% personal posts. If you follow KevinABarnes.com for the latest Crohn’s disease news, updates about astronomy and space exploration, or any of the other subjects about which I typically write, you’re probably safe skipping this post and moving on.

The past year began (on September 4, 2011) with The Double Date Adventure, an incredible day with two wonderful women. Then the 2012 calendar year kicked off several of the best months of my life.2 As a result of what was occurring during those months, I experienced dramatic personal growth, rediscovered some amazing truths about who I am at the core and what I value, and created numerous memories that I will always cherish. I wouldn’t trade that period of time for anything, but “near perfection” by its very nature3 tends to be a transitory state...and life, the universe and I had no choice but to move on.

Overall the last year reminded me that unless we continue to move forward — through both joyous and painful experiences — we never get anywhere. There is no point having goals and dreams if you are afraid to move forward and achieve those goals and dreams.

And so I’ve decided to unilaterally declare the next 12 months (September 4, 2012 though September 3, 2013) as My Awesome Year. Thanks to the past 12 months, the potential for the next 12 months is greater than it has been in many years.

Note: I can’t take credit for the phrase My Awesome Year. Fellow blogger Sara at Saving for Someday first used the term My Year of Awesome4 in early 2010. In addition, the title for this post is a reference to the 1982 film “The Year of Living Dangerously” because without a little risk, it’s almost impossible to find (or create) any awesomeness.

So what does this mean from a practical perspective?

• No more deferring the things I want to do or the goals I want to pursue.
• I intend to accomplish something small, yet awesome, every day. As the year progresses, these incremental achievements can build upon each other, allowing the awesomeness to increase exponentially.

And what are a few of the high points I anticipate during the coming year?

• I’ve finally5 begun pursuing a dream I first had at the age of six years — to earn a degree in Astronomy and make some contributions to the field.6
• After several unanticipated delays,7 my first novel — “Wine, Guts and Glory” — should finally be printed before the end of 2012. (My apology to everyone who already forked out cash hoping to have the novel in their hands by now. You WILL get your copy!)

No question about it, the next year is going to be awesome. Totally. Dude.

1. Yes, September 4 is my birthday. No, I am not going to make this easy and tell you how old I am. Start googling...it shouldn’t be that difficult to figure out! [↩]
2. Sorry, I’m not giving any more detail than that. [↩]
3. After all, if life was always perfect we wouldn’t have anything else to compare it against. Positive and negative only have meaning when contrasted against each other. [↩]
4. This was later follow by a second awesome year for Sara, dubbed Year of Awesome 2.0. She’s currently in the midst of Year of Awesome 3.0, which just goes to show that there’s always more awesomeness to be found. [↩]
5. This particular pursuit literally begins today. September 4 is my first day of classes at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. [↩]
6. For anyone who’s really interested, I’ll be tweeting my experience over the next several years using the hashtag #AstroKev. [↩]
7. “Always a writer, never an editor.” Or something like that! [↩]