The End of a Decade ~ Rachel Clare

December 31, 2009 | Filed Under Family, Mine 

It’s December 31st. 2009.

And, it wasn’t until two days ago that I realized (through someone’s Facebook update, of all places) that tomorrow starts not only a new year, but a new decade. For some reason, this made a total impact on me. At the time, I couldn’t pinpoint why, but after pondering over it for the past two days, I’ve come up with some very definitive reasons why my realization hit me so hard.

What’s funny is that tomorrow is just another day. A Friday. I will wake up, say prayers, feed the baby. I likely won’t make my bed, because that’s only happened, ummm, 3 times since Maura was born. Welcome to life with a wee one. I will brush my teeth, put on my slippers, pad into the kitchen and start my kids’ morning ritual of hot chocolate milk. But there will be no PBS or Disney cartoons tomorrow because we’ll be watching the Rose Bowl Parade. The mailman won’t visit our house and most businesses will be closed. People will either be sleeping off the havoc they wreaked on their bodies the night before or up, celebrating a new year. But as I mentioned, we’ll not only be celebrating a new year, but also a new decade.

This is significant to me for a few reasons. I look back at the “aughts” as they will be called (JT informed me of that last night and when I said, “Where did you learn that?”, he answered, “NPR”. Duh.) and realize how much I’ve changed.
In the past 10 years, I’ve:
lost my grandmother
married my best friend
graduated from college
backpacked Europe for almost 9 weeks with the previously mentioned best friend
bought and renovated a historic home (okay- JT renovated. I made lemonade.)
bought and renovated a not-historic home
given birth to three beautiful children
lost two pregnancies
started a business
met some of my very best friends

This list is small compared to the detailed mental list I have running through my mind. Being the very nostalgic and sentimental person that I am, it’s hard for me, in a way, to leave behind this decade so full of life-changing events. Each one of these things listed above has shaped me- has made me who I am. I am forever grateful for the events of this past ten years- all of them, good and bad, happy and difficult, because they’ve placed me here, where I’m at now.

While I mourn (on some level) the end of an era, I’m positively giddy at the prospects of a new year and a new decade. I look forward to the changes that will occur in my life- good and bad- because they will continue to shape me, and I pray for the ability to handle everything that comes with grace and a positive spirit.

I’m an extensive goal-maker. I’ve got lists of goals- they’re divided into categories. Seriously. I’ve got goals for my body, goals for my spirit, goals for my mind, goals for my house, goals for my family. I’ve got daily goals, monthly goals, yearly goals. And now, tonight, I’m going to make a list of goals for this decade. Note: they will include racing in a triathlon and opening a studio space, among lots of other things.

I don’t ever want to be one of those people who lives looking back and mourning the past. I never want to be one of those people who are always looking into the future and saying “as soon as….”. I want to be the person who appreciates the lessons of the past, looks with hope and excitement to the future and lives with fullness and wonder right here- in the present.

Happy New Year to you. Happy New Decade to you. May it only get better from here!
xo,
Rachel Clare

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