2012: The Year of No Regrets

In 2012 the Black Keys will make the leap, the Oklahoma City Thunder will beat the Miami Heat in the NBA finals and a man will walk on the moon.

There- bold predictions for the new year. I thought about doing this last week but just got around to it. Luckily none of my New Year’s resolutions had anything to do with procrastinating when it comes to blogs, so I’m good. As for active resolutions, there are really just the normal ones: lose some LB’s, gain some IQ’s and refrain from DUI’s. Pretty simple and pretty straightforward and I don’t smoke cigarettes, so that always leaves room for an extra resolution, which is a bonus.

So with my extra New Year’s resolution, I’ll take no regrets for 5,000.

This is 2012 and it’s all about what’s on the horizon. I came to a conclusion at some point during 2011 and it’s that you can’t change the past. You can change clothes, facial hair and tastes in music- but no, you cannot change the past. I can’t change the fact that I tried too hard to be liked growing up or that I wasted far too much money on music I never listened too. I also can’t change that I should have done something more constructive with my early twenties or should have thought more seriously about attending graduate school. At this point, a few days into 2012, all I can change is the kind of socks I wear (less white, more patterns,) the kind of food I eat (goodbye delicious pulled pork sandwiches and hello salads,) and the kind of financial decisions I make (groceries are good, used DVD’s are bad.)

2012 is a big year with big things happening, so there is little point in rehashing past years and past mistakes. There is barely any point in dipping into the memories of the good times either. It’s all about moving forward.

You know, that Don Draper fellow might be wrong when it comes to how he treats women, but he’s dead on when it comes to how you should approach life. Today is Tuesday and tomorrow is Wednesday. Yesterday was just yesterday- it has no name, no face, no personality except for a collection of dust and tire tracks. Think about heavy regret is. It weighs you down far more than any delicious pulled pork sandwich from the Twisted Tail (might be my new favorite bar) could ever dream of. Regret is extra sweaters in your suitcases when you’re just going away for the weekend. Regret is three Guinness’s instead of two Yuengling Light’s. Regret is a hangover, regret is cereal for dinner, regret is poop on your new shoes.

2012 is the Year of No Regret. If this was China, No Regret would be an animal and we’d celebrate it’s coming with parades and costumes of dragons.

But this isn’t China. It’s America.

My coffee is getting cold.