Julio's Musings

“And so, with Age 26 now gone, it’s time to wonder what Age 27 will bring. I had a whole list of goals to accomplish with this next year of life, but I’m throwing that list out. Age 27 will be the year of just seeing where life takes me. Here’s hoping this new path I’m on will lead to more happy things. But, if part of this path turns out to be a little bumpy or scary, I’m definitely ready for it. The only goal for Age 27 is to simply live out life and continue to be the best man I can possibly be.”

I wrote that one year ago today, on my 27th birthday. I can’t believe a year has gone by already. We always talk about how quickly time goes by, but we’re always still so amazed by it. I mean, really, 2011 is just about over already. Craziness.

Well, what can I say about age 27? Looking back, age 27 was a foundation building year. I managed to be the happiest I’ve ever been. Even with some setbacks, problems, annoyances, etc., age 27 was the happiest year I’ve had in many years. One could say that it’s probably because age 26 was so crappy I had nowhere to go but up. I, however, feel like it’s a bit more optimistic than that.

The most important thing I’ve learned over the past year was how to actually be happy. I wasn’t a happier person simply because the problems from last year were gone. There were plenty of things this year that went bad and I’m sure I could have very easily fallen into a more pessimistic and sadder state of mind. That didn’t happen because I didn’t let it happen. Sure, there were days, maybe even a week here and there, that I was subdued and down. Everyone has those times. But, my greatest accomplishment over the past year, something that I never thought I would actually learn, was how to not let those negative times consume me and rule me. I learned what steps I need to take to have a consistently upbeat mindset. This knowledge was what I needed to complete the foundation of my life. It’s what I’ve been missing for so very long. And now that I have my completed foundation, I can start to build something on it. That’s what age 28 is going to be about. 

I have felt very behind in life in a lot of things, but it’s been like that because I was never ready for anything greater. I couldn’t really build anything because I wasn’t a stable person. I took the past year to stay on a course of stability; a time to take baby steps with myself so that I could learn how to just be calm and steady. It was a time to not take too many risks, but to just step out a little at a time to see how my newfound mindset could handle the little things in life. But now, the break-in period is over. I actually learned this past week that I’m ready for more; I’m ready to push myself harder. 

So, age 27 is now in the books. It was a year of growth, learning, watching, improving, taking steps, moving forward, and, most importantly, happiness. My hope is that age 28 will be just as fruitful and interesting.