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****1/1/11 GMT Happy New Year****

TN

Hey baby, want a hot dog?
Jul 9, 2002
14,301
1,353
Jimtown, CO
havent had a hangover in long while. not gonna start 2011 with one. I do have a nasty head cold so I might as well have a nasty hangover. >.<


oh yeah...HNY!
 

mandown

Poopdeck Repost
Jun 1, 2004
20,126
7,674
Transylvania 90210
Good morning 2011!

I posted this on Facebook today, but I thought y'all might appreciate it as well (jK, just post "tl;dr"):

Like one who, on a lonely road,
Doth walk in fear and dread,
And, having once turned round, walks on,
And turns no more his head;
Because he knows a frightful fiend
Doth close behind him tread.
~Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

2010 was the year I experienced paralysis. A freak bike accident while riding terrain well within my skill level, resulting in a broken neck, a significant amount of time in hospitals, and an uncertain future. However, is that not the nature of the future, to be uncertain? If anything, this event made my future more certain by removing options for future activities, narrowing the path before me.

Rather than waiving an urgent farewell and bolting for safety in the arms of 2011, I believe I will most certainly look back fondly on one of the most memorable years of my life. In a time of horrific crisis, I was given a glimpse into the peace which must certainly exist within my head and heart, allowing me to weather the storm in good humor.

I discovered how strong my will and resolve are, seeing that they could carry me through seemingly tragic times. How can I look back on that with anything other than a smile? Not to tempt fate, but what ghoul could possibly lie in wait for me that would frighten me to cower after having the experience of surviving this journey? I recognize that I owe a debt of gratitude to luck, though luck alone would not have seen me through this.

Undeniably, I was shown the love of those around me. No man should ever want to dig a hole so deep to survey the depth of the foundation supporting him. Yet, it is a powerful comfort to have seen how strong my support is capable of being, and still holding steady.

I look forward to the prospects of a new year, without the fear of letting myself be more than "once turned round." 2011 has some large shoes to fill, so I welcome whatever may come.

"Even broken in spirit as he is, no one can feel more deeply than he does the beauties of nature. The starry sky, the sea, and every sight afforded by these wonderful regions, seems still to have the power of elevating his soul from earth. Such a man has a double existence: he may suffer misery, and be overwhelmed by disappointments; yet, when he has retired into himself, he will be like a celestial spirit that has a halo around him, within whose circle no grief or folly ventures."
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein