Was 2008 A Good Or Bad Year For You?
Will 2008 go down in the books as a good year for you?
Did you do good financially or are you one of those facing foreclosure? Did you finish the year in good health or in the hospital. Is your family well or is your father on hospice and your daughter on a milk carton?
Just before New Year, a local talk radio host asked this question.
For many of the callers it had not been a great year. For some of the other callers, 2008 was an improvement over 2007. Actually, it was very interesting to hear how others felt about 2008 as a year. However, it is really a useless question.
Live in the present not the past or future
It is a little late to do anything about 2008.
No matter if it was a good year or bad year for you. You may have got a new job the pays $250,000 a year, but that does not mean that you will still have it at the end of 2009. You may have lost your home in a foreclosure in 2008, but that does not mean you will not have a mansion by the end of 2009.
The past really has no bearing on the future.
I think this is a good thing. It means no matter how much I screw up, I can do better. It also means that you will always need to keep on top of things and keep improving. The only thing the past gives you is education and experience. Unfortunately, for many of us, learning from the past is something that never seems to happen.
It is easy to spend too much time worrying about past failure.
Living in the past is not a good use of time. You can profit from the past by learning from it and moving on.
The future is also something that you can spend too much time worrying about.
You can spend so much time preparing for the future that you never enjoy life. You can never be fully prepared for the future. You do not know what it holds. No one does.
This coming year could be a great year for you. Some people spend so much time worrying about the future they never really have a chance to enjoy life. They spend the whole day preparing for the next. And then, when the future throws them a surprise they did not prepare for, things are even worse.
I do believe in setting goals for the future.
I also believe in being prepared for the unexpected but it is easy to take both way too far. Yet, having no goals and being totally unprepared will lead you nowhere.
A lot of people set new years resolutions at this time of year.
The trouble is not just that they are goals that people never really commit to. The question is why wait till for a new year to make them and are they really a resolution or just a wish. We say "This year I am going to lose weight" when we really mean "Sometime, maybe, if it is convenient, later on during the year I'll think about losing weight more seriously if it is easy." Very few people are really resolved to their resolutions. If they were, they would do it right then rather than wait for a new year.
My personal resolution for this year?
I plan to live as much as possible in the present.
I have that habit of leaving things for tomorrow. Tomorrow never seems to get here and I find myself thinking or saying "I ran out of time." The truth is, I left the job for the future and the future had other plans for me. It is also easy to over analyze the future by constantly trying to prepare for it.
I also am not going to let the past dictate what can and cannot be done. I noticed that I just typed "I am going to" when it should say "I do not."
Time to start using the proper tenses when I type too.
I live as much as possible in the present.
I do not let the past dictate what I can or cannot do. 
I learn from the past and use it for the present. I do not let past failure keep me from succeeding now. I do not spend more time thinking about making that important call (or blog post) than just doing it now.
I live now, not in the future, not in the past.
Now.
As far as not having enough time? Someone much more successful than I once said something. I am not sure it was his originally or if he got it from someone else (I am sure he listens to a lot of inspirational speakers). I think it is very profound.
"You have all the time there is."
No more, no less.
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Comments on Was 2008 A Good Or Bad Year For You?
Great advice, i think this could cure a lot of the worlds problems if more people thought like this. I think depression would be greatly lessened. I like the concern vs. influence circles theory for this. it says that you shouldn't worry about things outside of your circle of influence, no matter how important they are because there's nothing you can do about them.
Matt- We definitely should not worry about things we cannot change. There is a balance needed to still pay some attention to the world around us. Making good decisions about what you can influence requires awareness (but not worry or anxiety).
We are told a lot of people voted for "change" recently. They must not have looked at the facts or voting history of who they were voting for (this can be said of the nominees for both parties). The result? A good portion of the coming cabinet was also part of the last Democratic presidency (we will even still have a Clinton working in the Executive branch again).This is not a change.
It is important to pay attention and be informed while not letting those things affect you. However, ignoring everything not immediately under your control eventually can allow those other things to affect you.
Y2K was a good example of what I am thinking about. There were people that sold their homes and moved to the country expecting society to collapse. Others failed to prepare and found their computers not working properly (yes it did cause some problems). The right choice was to update your computers and enjoy the New Years Eve in 1999-2000 with family and friends (and maybe keep an eye out for some minor problems that were missed).
I think the real killer is worry. Worrying about the past or future instead of living now can make life not enjoyable. Past performance does not equal future performance.
We always talk about past, think about what is going to happen in the near future, and sometimes if we manage to wake up from "dreaming" we realize that we forget to live now – in the present. This is a common thing nowadays and it is great that you posted that big picture inside your post. Maybe it will help a lot of people realize that it is time to live NOW, it's time to wake up. That being said, both my wife and me thank you for writing this article. We sustain the idea that no matter what happens there is always the bright side of things. You just need to have the necessary knowledge and experience in order to see it
God Bless You and Your Whole Entire Family,
Billy and Maria
Yes all are talking about past It means they have some unforgettable moment happened. According to me 2008 was a very good year. I passed my degree and got a new job more than that some personal changes happened in my life.Still I am in wonder because an astrologer told all these things very early.
Day Care – You would define someone who is too preoccupied with the future. Trust God to take care of the future and leave it to Him. Consulting an astrologer shows lack of faith in God (and shows that you don't care that he said not to consult astrologers). You'll find that on the whole, astrologers are either inaccurate or give information that is vague and your own imagination adds to it making it seem like good information.
Hi James
I have strong belief on God and he said not to consult astrologer I know it very well but just for fun I have consulted an astrologer and I didn't take his words in much care but after all the things happened I just wondered,One more thing is that was my first consulting with an astrologer in my life. I don't wish to consult an astrologer again.Let me tell the main point that was given by the astrologer is "entire change in love life" it happened I lost my relation.Now I am trying to forget everything and Reloading..
Thanks a lot for your advice and I wish to hear from you.Surely I will include you in my prayer May god bless you.
day Care –
Didn't mean to come across as preaching. You've a great example of why not to do it there. I hope God blesses you also and not just for the coming year.
A very Buddhist post.
I think living in the Here & Now is great advice too. I also think there's a place for looking back, to see what worked well and what didn't, in order to do better in the future.
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2008 was the worst year ever for me however, 2009 will be the best ever!!
Wish me luck
2008 was a year of transition for me. Started a new job. Moved from West coast to East coast. Took half the year to figure out I didn't like it, and the other half to figure out a way to get back.
2008 was average year for me. I can't achieve my goal and i make new resolution for this year and i hope i achieved my goal in 2009. All the best for all.
I've been commited to my new year's resolution for 2 months now. I'm smoking and drinking less. I'm jogging 3 times a week. I think I'll be able to stick with it for the rest of the year.
2008 has been a good year for me because I have stayed away from the negative news and spent time improving my knowledge in my industry.
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My 2008 year wasn't a great year, but I am looking for 2009 to be my best year, at least that's what I hope, because I desperately need it to be my best year! Especially with the way the economy has gotten.
Till then,
Jean
The year 2008 was very painful to me and more sacrifice.But year 2009 is quite lucky because i found a new job and a new life that has a goal to achieve.
You are right, what is past is past. 2008 is history. Right now its all about 2010. If you did great for yourself last year. Ok, that is last year, you have to do great now as well. Actually you have to do better. If you did horribly, alright ok.. so what are you going to do about it? Cry about it or strive to do better, to more than make up for it. The past is past. Don’t judge yourself on it.