The calendar ahead

I don't just absent-mindedly stick a new calendar on the wall, like I imagine most do. No, I even turn THIS into a deep, melancholy experience. Let's be clear -- what I do takes under 5 minutes; it's not some hour-long ritual. But I like to really examine the coming year ahead, flipping through each month, REALIZING THAT EACH OF THE NEXT 365 DAYS ARE BLANK SLATES WAITING TO BE COLORED IN, absolutely brimming with potential. When I look at TIME that way, laid out in front of me over an entire year, it's difficult not to realize the incredible gift of each day. Each month. Each YEAR. It makes me sick to think of squandering it. If, throughout the year, we can only hold on to that wave of hope and renewal that comes on New Year's Day, SO much can get done. I desperately try every year. HARDER every year. I actually did pretty damn well last year...though not necessarily in ways people could see. And so i'm ready again...more ready than ever. Anxious to continue molding my place on this earth. Trying so desperately hard NOT to obsess so much about the relentless flipping of the calendar. I'm young, i'm hot, i'm smart as hell...RIGHT?!? The first two are relative, but i'm gonna be positive. I AM smart as hell, though. Period. And the goal...THE Goal...overall...is to color in that fucking 2007 calendar as brightly as possible. Peace and productivity.