For as much as the well-known phenomenon proves true for all of us, it hits me just a little harder every year. This is to say, the older we get, the faster each 12-month increment seems to pass. Such is the case, more than ever, with 2010.
Plan and try as I did, this year began less than pleasantly. While the details are my own, it took just hours for me to coin the title “The Year of Ascent.” I knew, and clearly so, that the only way was up. Fortunately, the initial turn in the upward direction came quickly.
Searches and discoveries. Developments and decisions. Gains and losses. Trials and errors. Successes and failures. Excitements and advances. Every one of these collectively culminated in a long-awaited intention fulfilled. 2010 carried me along a path that via its many curves and zig zags, overall led upward. As it turns out, I ascended from a place in which I was not meant to remain, to one that feels better and more destined than any other.
Miles were gained, more than ten thousand on my motorcycle to be exact. Miles were lost, nearly four thousand in pedaling from my previous record. My career path opened new doors, closed some of them, and continued knocking on more. My physical fitness took a sabbatical, then returned in spades. I loved and lost, and with a nod to Tennyson, I’m all the better for it. My home for six months of the year served as an intended transition, leading me largely by fate to the spot in which I’m now settled. Friendships were made, cultivated, tested, strengthened and celebrated. All the while, my good health remains, as not one doctor visit this year would have it seem.
2010 was my first entire year as “my own boss” of sorts. As a freelance professional with an wide-ranging media background, I landed myself a collection of interesting and insightful “gigs” throughout the past 12 months. At the same time, I took advantage of my flexible schedule to pursue a brand-new full-time profession. The process was thorough and intense, leading me to extensively evaluate my personal history, my viewpoints, my priorities and my overall professional temperament. As my career search continues into 2011, I’m no doubt armed with more knowledge than ever before.
My confidence on the motorcycle was still fragile at the start of this year. On my first large group ride in January, I was still lagging behind and fearfully avoiding the smallest cracks in the road. As 2010 progressed, so too did my skills, ease and general riding pleasure. At one point over the summer, I made the comment that it took me six months to put 3,000 miles on my motorcycle, and then six weeks to put on another 3,000. While of course staying safe and defensive out there in a sea of questionable drivers, I’m thankful, with a knock on the wood next to me now, to have avoided any motorcycling incidents or mishaps.
My only physical injury of this year came on my other set of two wheels, as in the one without a motor. A wipe out and the resulting road rash, of course, is simply par for the cyclist’s course. I won’t blame my motorcycle entirely for my significant drop in cycling mileage, except to say that my riding time is no doubt shared between throttle and pedals. As such, my bicycle does not get all of my ride time anymore, much to the suffering of my advanced physical fitness. This shall change I predict, for as 2011 begins with my freshly serviced and repaired bicycle, I’m seeing some races on the horizon! My motorcycle may just have to wait patiently.
After two years of two different intense personal involvements, 2010 declared me single once again. All things considered, I’ve welcomed this much-needed time for myself, free of attachment and potential complication. My longstanding friendships are very important to me, and I’m grateful for the chance this year to strengthen several of them. A relationship will come again, no doubt, when it’s meant to do so. In the meantime, my heart is at peace, with special places within for all those who’ve inhabited it.
Of all this year’s developments, the most obvious is my geographical relocation. I absolutely love living in San Francisco thus far, and I’ve not doubted for one second that I made a sound decision. After so many years of wanting to move here, I seized upon a unique window of opportunity in 2010, one of being unemployed and single. Not only did I just move here to any old place, but it seems I found the “right” home, a beautiful spot that feels comfortable, relaxing and simply right. Therefore, I rest all the more knowing this move is meant to be, and that I remain on that continually ascending path.
2010: The Year of Ascent. Questions, uncertainties and mysteries remain, and that’s life, certainly as much for you as for me. Despite challenges that arise and setbacks that might dismay us, we all continue to ascend in one way or another. After all, the ascent is never a straight diagonal line pointing northeast. Rather, it’s a zig-zagging climb, one more rapid it seems with the passing of each 12 months!
Altogether, I’m standing on higher elevation right now than one this day 12 months ago. The path ahead into 2011 looks like it continues to ascend.
Ryan R. Sanderson 