2021: The Year In Review

One of the things I try to do at the end of each year is review my progress on goals I identified at the beginning of the year to see what, if any, progress I made.

Let us just say that on the whole, this year was a drastic wash.

The thing that was not foreseen (or at least, not as much as it became) was having to work to settle my parents into a retirement home, followed by my father's strokes and the saga that became relocating both of them until we able to bring them back together in July 2021 (for those that are new, Moving TB The Elder and Mom has the details).  Fortunately for me, the Plague of 2020 worked in my favor and I was able to be out there more than I would have been able to be the previous year - but even with that, being gone one week out of every four (and in one case, an entire month) changes how one accomplishes their goals.

The Plague of 2020, while not unforeseen in the sense it was there, was unforeseen in that it impacted me for good and ill.  For good, it cemented the fact that my job has become a full time remote one (confirmed at Christmas by my boss, who said there is no discussion of any of our group coming in at all now).  This is a huge savings of time, money, and stress (Introverts of the world, unite!).  For ill, it meant that traveling to Japan for training in 2021 (or in 2022) did not happen, nor could a seminar for Iaijutsu take place here.  Here is to hoping 2023 will allow it.

That said, I would also say that 2021 was the Year of the Unexpected Adventure.

In January, I pretty much had nowhere I was planning to go.  By the end of the year - besides traveling back to Old Home and the Ranch 12 times (including effectively a one month visit in February) I had been to see my Weight Training coach The Beserker (a three state/12 hour drive), hiked the Grand Canyon(something I never anticipated trying to do), and been to Costa Rica (somewhere I never intended to go).  When I add all that time up, that is something like 30% of the time I was not here in Old Home.  That might explain why I got less done than I had intended.

So lots of things did not done - I did not quite find a different church or get my financial house in order to the extent I would have liked (but more than I thought I would) or testing for certification in Iaijutsu or take the JPLT N4 Japanese test or get stronger (well, maybe a little stronger) or anything else I had on the list.  My garden did okay and I did hit my "make 12 dairy products", although most of mine remain yogurt.

One really interesting - and unexpected note - was that after 50+ years, I finally stopped chewing my nails.  Yes, they sometimes got down (and occasionally do still get down) very low, but they were never to the point of being completely gone.  That is a win, hands down.

We had new pets join our ranks (M and P the Guinea Pigs and P the Rabbit) and continued to enjoy the presence of Poppy the Brave, A the Cat, I-bun the Rabbit, and Joy the Rabbit.  I was also reminded - when I traveled - how much I have come to miss them when I am not around them.  Pets fill my life in a way nothing else does.

Our immediate family remained in good health:  The Ravishing Mrs. TB went hither and yon (she enjoys travel far more than I do), Nighean Gheal graduated from college and came home, Nighean Bhan continued in college, and Nighan Dhonn entered the latter half of high school.

On the whole then, although I accomplished not very much of what I intended, I accomplished a great deal.  Or as the poet has written, "I got nothing that I asked for, but everything that I needed".

Am I looking forward to 2022?  I will have a list of goals for that year as well, although tempered by my experiences this year.  Perhaps the safest thing to state is that all goals - and indeed, all life - will be subject to change without notice.