Another End Of Year Post

Here we are again. Another year is over. This time it's 2014.

I'm starting to realize how time passes more quickly the older you get. I heard this from my dad many years ago, and I believe it's true. When I read about people born in the year 2000, I think they're babies, but they're not. They are teenagers right now.

Many years ago, the year 2000 seemed futuristic. Now we're in the year 2014 and 2000 seems like some laughable period of time when cell phones still looked relatively gigantic and the internet was still in its baby shoes.

Back to 2014. What was it like for me? Well, it started of quite bad in terms of work, I was not working because of stress and had to make a recovery in order to get back to work. Then that's what I did and my contract is going to run out in February and I'm going to leave my employer of more than 6 years. Big change.

What I can say about 2014 is that it was not a year full of extreme changes. But the years 2013 and 2015 are going to be such years. In 2013, I got into a new position / job that made me break down. In 2014, I returned to a job I can handle, but 2015 will have lots of uncertainty to deal with.

At the same time, there is still some sense of hope left. If there is one powerful thing in life that I always get to notice, it's the amazing experience of realizing what an entire year includes. Think back to one year ago and consider all the changes... 365 days of change.

I'll give you one example. Not even one year ago, in January, I thought to myself that it would be a good start to earn 10 Euros a month with a blog. That I could go on to earn 100 Euros at an unspecified moment in time, whenever it works. Now, I can look back and say that 300 euros a month with a blog is not a totally uncommon thing (taxes not yet taken into account), and there is more to be done and more to achieve.

What amazes me is the scale of events... how quickly things can change.

At the beginning of 2005 for example, I didn't yet know I was going to meet Marit Larsen in a private situation as if we're just friends hanging out.

I also never believed I would just make several hundred Euros on a lucky day at the stock market as if I'm a professional. Just like that (just to note: I also lost money on other days).

[enter any other year with a special event]

And this is how things sometimes just fall into place. This is why it's important for me to look back on a year that's over and appreciate how things have just changed very rapidly. Not all things, just some.

Of course, I know that sometimes things can go in the wrong direction. But at the same time all I can do is try to be positive and look for chances instead of things to go desperate about. Because if we don't try to look for good things in life, why are we here anyway?

I'm probably more of a Darwinian than ever before, and I believe that the meaning of life can be found in life itself and not somewhere outside, in another life, another world and so on. If we want to be happy, we can try to be happy now. If we're just drawn into depression, then living itself becomes useless because why even bother to stay alive?

See this as a positive message. As long as 51% of a day is good enough to make the other 49% tolerable, then life is worth it. And our eagerness should be to get as much of the 100% of life to feel good.

So, 2014 was a year full of learning, there was definitely a lot of personal development involved, and in other areas of life, not so much changed. Somehow though, I'm actually glad that all the things that went bad didn't turn me into a pessimistic person. The opposite is the case, which is almost a little scary because I don't want to trust it. But then again, I'm good at careful calculations and my idea is that, if only some of the things I hope for work out, then it should be okay. My considerations largely revolve around finances, but that's because I'm very pragmatic. If finances work, life is less complicated and I'm sure I'll find enough things to enjoy. I'm actually one of the people who believe that money -does- make you happy... or in other words, if money isn't the problem, there certainly are enough other things to focus on.

So, next year I need to look for a new job, but it doesn't have to be the biggest, best job ever, and not even well-paid. Just good enough so that I'm okay. And I wouldn't even mind if it is part time because then I can work from home. And if it's not part time, that means that I earn more. So either way there should be something positive, right?