A new year brings a new designation

After a brief survey of my columns, I discovered that on a rather frequent basis, most of my writings tend to be reflective. After staring at my computer for the last fifteen minutes, watching the cursor blink, it appears I might not break the mold with this column either, because more than looking forward, New Year's Eve is just as much about reflection.

In 2016, I will be turning 30. When I've said that statement aloud in public, people respond with condolences and pity -- their eyes retaining a certain sadness. Although, I have never thought of it that way.

From a young age, I have never been one to wish life would have a stop. The thought of growing older, having my own money, my own path was an inviting thought.

I am often meditative in my writing and often coat my columns with the glossy veneer of golden-age thinking, but I would never venture to my past as being my "glory days." The idea of my best years are behind me, is frankly depressing.

One of the great attributes instilled in us is hope and desire. The futility to give in to the idea that "it can only go downhill from here," is defeatist.

In a recent survey, people from all different age groups were polled on the question: Which years were the best in their life -- their 20s, 30s, 40s and on up? Invariably, everyone polled chose the age group in which they were currently in. This poll gives me optimism, because, while I was in high school, I remember a barrage of people kept stating with absurd consistency that, "this will be the best years of your life." No greater lie has been uttered to me. What I've discovered is, as you get older, despite a few years being less than grand (being 23 years old was the worst) life gets better in its own way. Maybe "better" is not the right word -- instead, life evolves and presents a new set of challenges and joys. For example, one Christmas I asked for a pot and pans set. On Christmas morning I was pleasantly surprised by the gift. As a child, I might have found receiving kitchenware for Christmas a deplorable idea, but thankfully life changes. In the inverse, I could not imagine still receiving rubber ducks in my stocking.

As an aside, I would like to add, I do not look back on the past with bitterness. Whenever I see my friends, most of the time we talk about the past as much as we do the future. It is important to keep in mind the past, the decisions and errors made dictate the future.

This New Year's Eve, as the clock strikes midnight, bringing in a new year, I will not grimace with fear, instead, I will look towards the coming year with humility and wonder.

"Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another," Ernest Hemingway.

Grant is a staff writer for the Greene County Daily World. He can be reached by telephone at (812) 847-4487, ext. 19. He can also be reached via email at gkarazsia@gmail.com.