Note: This was originally posted earlier on my Substack running column, petecolaizzo.substack.com -- please consider subscribing (to it) at the very economical price of $30/year (less than 25 cents per post!)
How was your year?
It was an innocuous question, uttered out of the blue by a
friend as we were walking and talking indoors last week on a bitterly cold
morning.
How was your year?
I was flummoxed, at a loss for words, which is rare for
someone like me who talks and talks and talks (verbally or through the written
word).
How was your year?
Context matters. Before my friend showed up, I had been
walking by myself, the same 135-meter indoor track laps that I traverse over
and over and over again during the cold-weather months. While there, I’m
usually listening to audiobooks. Or, in this case, thinking. Usually about
everything surrounding the academic calendar year, of which we are smack dab in
the middle. Fall 2024 semester just concluded, busy Spring 2025 semester
beckons.
That’s where my mind was at, thoughts swirling endlessly,
before my walking buddy showed up. And then, the question …
How was your year?
Now you see, the context threw me off. My year? Whatchu
mean, man! We’re right in the middle of my year! What year? Ask me in May, or
maybe June!
Of course, by now, you realize what a dolt I can be
sometimes. There’s less than one week left in the calendar year 2024. So, the
end-of-year question, and the introspective thoughts that go with that
question, they are everywhere.
How was your year?
In running, for those that keep track of mileage, the end of
the year can be a time to celebrate literal milestones. I know a runner -- a
serious, hard-core marathoner -- who just topped 4,000 miles of running for
2024. For those keeping score at home, that’s an average of more than 80 miles
per week for an entire calendar year – that’s a lot of mileage!
My walking friend keeps track of his steps on an app. He’s
constantly “getting steps” whenever and wherever he can throughout the day. The
“10,000-steps-a-day” thing that you hear about all the time? He exceeds that
total, most days, by 12 noon. And then, he keeps going.
Two popular apps – Strava and Spotify – provide year-end
summaries called “wrapped.” It’s pretty neat to have an app summarize things
for you – you know, while you’re busy actually DOING them! In Strava’s case,
it’s your activity logs – run, walk, hike, cycle, etc. In Spotify’s case, it’s
your listening habits – tells you what songs and what artists you listen to the
most, month by month.
So here, in the last week of December, “how was your year?”
thoughts can be pervasive. Recapping 2024, looking ahead to 2025. In truly
thinking about it? I think I’m at a stage of life where … I don’t really think
about it. I take each day and each week as it comes. “Be present” and “stay in
the moment” are two popular phrases shared among busy and stressed-out college
students, and I try to live by both.
And on that note, as I write this, our entire family is
under one roof. That’s a rare occurrence these days, at this stage of their
lives. They all surprised me by finding their way under this very same roof to
be here for my 60th birthday back in the late summer.
How was your year?
On that late-summer weekend, and today, I’d say pretty good!
As for the other 350-something days? Replace the word “year” with “day” and ask
me, and I’m sure I’ll have an answer ready for you. Broaden it out to the
entire calendar of days under a four-digit number representing the year? Well
then, you’ll lose me.
How
was your year?
How was your year?
How was your year?
How was your year?
How was your year?
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