2010: The Year of Peter (And You)

I know this is a bit late considering we are 11 days into the new year but since I wanted to blog about the events I participated in while they were still fresh in my mind, I finally have time for this blog post. It may be a bit disjointed but hey it's my blog I write what I want. 2009 was kind of a bummer of a year. By no means was it the worst. 2007 trumps it by a mile, and 2005 wasn't great either.

For me 2009 did have its moments. For me the two that stand out are the Lakers winning the Championship, and the Cougars beating Oklahoma in a we shocked the country moment. I was there and that was what made it really special. I had my health, pretty sure my checking account reached its highest balance ever, and had fun trips home to CA and to New Orleans. That's pretty much it. I'm sure there are other things, I mean I had 60 blog posts last year so I must have done something. That being said if I had to describe my year in one word it would be...meh.

Sort of like how I feel about fireworks, my year was just meh. If I end up being 112 years old I will have had what I like to call a "quarter life crisis" unlike a mid life crisis where women visit the plastic surgeon and men visit the Porsche dealership, the quarterlife crisis is more of a realization that things haven't gone the way you planned. Not necessarily a bad thing, but not a great thing either.

I remember going to a Dodgers game with Jordan while I was in High School. After the game we watched the players leave. Gary Sheffield in his Porsche 911 , Jose Vizcaiano in his Acura NSX, Eric Young in his Porsche. I knew I would never be driving away from the players exit of Dodger stadium. Mostly because I was an adaquate Middle Blocker with no hops but pretty good timing, not really MLB material. I saw those material possessions and thought to myself, I've got to get me some of that. (Not sure if that is how I phrased it) I decided that I would be a sports agent, because if you can't get it yourself you might as well get it for someone else and take 10 percent. So for about 5 years if people asked me what I wanted to be I would say sports agent. My plan, go to law school, catch on at some firm and go from there. But something changed, I decided I did not want to go to law school to be an agent, I wanted to be...a Congressman. It was at about this time that I came up with my personal motto: "Why Not Me?!"

I went to Washington DC, worked around Congress and continued to fall in love with the whole scene. I felt like I did everything in my power to move forward, gain skills, experience and connections. And then one day it was brought to my attention that my plan wasn't working. Phase one of the quarter life crisis.

Some people (including myself) ask me why I'm not married. Other say don't worry about, and I convince myself that it really isn't a big deal. I remember thinking to myself 27 seems like a good age to get married. I'll have sowed my wild oats, bought the things I wanted to buy, and generally be ready to settle down. 27 came and went, 28 came and went and now here's 29. I had lunch with my friend Emily this week (incidentally we were voted most spirited for the class of '99) and we talked about how are current status actually allows us the freedom and flexibility to do whatever we want. When people ask me that I say I could have been, or I'm justing waiting to figure things out. I remember one day talking to my dad about my love life. I was lamenting how once again things hadn't worked out. He said to me "Peter, it can't always be your fault." I told him I don't think so. So I don't think its totally my fault. I don't know if I pick the wrong girls, if I'm relationship disabled or what, but in any case I am a slight bit frustrated. Have you seen 500 Days of Summer? I watched it (and like most of the songs that I listen to carefully I put myself in it) and thought oh my gosh...this is telling my story. Jennifer called me yesterday and was like (spoiler alert) you just need to find your Autumn. Phase two of the quarter life crisis.

Maybe you see know where this is headed. Career uncertainty plus relationship uncertainty. The funny thing is I know a lot of you are going through the same things. You thought you would go to college meet the person of your dreams, get the job you always wanted, and live happily ever after. And yet that isn't what happened. Somewhere along the way you took a job that wasn't quite right but paid pretty well, the person you thought you'd be with forever wasn't who you thought they were, and so on and so forth. Some of you have part of the equation but not the whole, and then there are the select few who are perfectly content (probably pretty few). December 3rd marked the fourth anniversary of my move to Washington D.C. (celebrated here in Whittier by getting some last minute studying in for the GMAT). When an anniversary like this occurs I can't help but think of one of my favorite Anchorman quotes something I've written about before "We've been coming to the same party for the last 12 years and in no way is that depressing." But it is in a way, I can't help but feel that my 2009 was a year that I was stuck in the holding pattern. And the first two parts plus a little bit of stagnation and you have all the key elements of a QLC.

But as Harvey Dent tells the people of Gotham, "The night is darkest before the dawn." So for all my loyal Pete Chat readers I am going to tell you why 2010 is going to be the year of Peter and the Year of (Insert Your Name Here).

I am going to use a little something I like to call Haydan logic to simplify my point. When my niece (now ten) was little I would ask her "Haydan, why are you so cute?" She would answer without hesitation, "Because I am."

2010 is going to be my year and your year because it is. This is the year where you take the steps to do the things you want to do with your life. For me it's getting a cool new job, going back to school, buying a car, and having it work out with the right girl. For you it might be moving to a new place, getting that promotion you've earned, learning to play the guitar (unless you are one of those tools who busts out his guitar anytime a group of girls are around, you know who you are just quit it poindexter) starting a family, or any of the millions of other things you want to do. Now you may be asking yourself how does one go about obtaining these things. It's very simple and it is used by Nike-Just Do It, Dutch in Predator- Do It NOW!, and I think most simply and yet most profoundly by President Spencer W. Kimball -Do it. That's it. Instead of sitting, waiting , wishing, you go out and do it.

My New Years Resolution for 2009 was to be a better Latter -day Saint. I don't know how  I did. I'll keep working on it. My resolution for this year is to have an awesome year. That's it. Who cares if you are having a quarter life crisis? Decide today that whatever your current situation that 2010 is the year that you take the steps towards your goals, personally, professionally, and spiritually.

I'm going to get all the things I want, and If I don't it won't be from a lack of effort on my part.  I am challenging all of my Pete Chat readers to do the same. Go out and do the things you want to do. Why not... it's our year.