Chad Thoughts

December 31 is an arbitrary date. It’s equal to any other day of the year in reality. But our culture is built around endings and beginnings. Thus, Dec 31 indicates the last day of a year and the next day a new one starts. To me, it’s always felt as if Jan 1 starts a journey that builds until Dec 31.  I try to list out my goals for the year, I start with hope and gusto, but the year grinds on and on. There are distractions along the way, and I look back at the list of goals from Jan 1 and most of the time only half of them are completed and most are completed in the beginning of the year. It makes me feel like I’ve failed despite everything else I accomplished along the way during the year that wasn’t planned. All the accomplishments that were inspired by a thought or a need mid-year somehow go by the wayside because of this list of goals I thought about around Jan 1. Some of the items on that list are even outdated yet I feel deflated them I didn’t accomplish them.  How silly is that? Circumstances change within months. I shouldn’t be down on myself because I didn’t accomplish something I randomly thought of at the beginning of the year. 

A year is a long time. I’m writing this struggling to even remember everything that happened this year, 2025. Thankfully I have Spotify to remind me of all the music I listened to. YouTube to recap, unnecessarily, all the videos I watched. But airlines don’t remind me of the trips I took. Friends don’t call and remind me of the fun we had. Banks don’t send me a “2025 Wrapped” of my spending. Fortunately, I can look back as I write everything down. But off the top of my head, here’s some significant 2025 memories

• Spring Break skiing in Colorado with my kids. Near perfect conditions, low crowds. Felt strong on my snowboard
• After the kids left, I drove to Western Colorado and witnessed the stunning beauty of snowcapped mountains and snowy riverbanks. Hiking up the Manitou Incline
• A memorable trip to Oaxaca, learning about Mezcal, eating some of the best food I consumed this year
• A trip to San Diego with my kids. La Jolla. The beach on the 4^th of July. Being within feet of a Panda eating bamboo in front of us at the San Diego Zoo. A very fun Padres game. A day of wineries with my kids with a once in a lifetime cave tour.
• My partner was moving away and the slow separation of our lives
• A 6 day, 200-mile mountain bike trip in Southern Utah with my brother. The memories of those days on the trail are seared into my brain. The extreme highs and extreme lows (literally, 2000 ft climbs and 8 miles drops). The pride I felt of myself and my brother as we coasted those last 5 miles into Escalante
• A week in Missouri with my son, moving him into a new place
• Spending about $14,000 on home repairs and the barrage of contractors in and out of the house
• Morning beach volleyball with my friends this year, getting through this year without a major injury
• Live comedy shows of Louis CK, Nikki Glaser and John Mulaney
• The Florida Gators Basketball team’s run to the final four and winning the championship

Looking at this list, it’s interesting that nearly all of the memories I’ll take from this year revolve around travel. And ironically, every year I look at my spending and think how I need to cut down my vacation spending. But what’s the point of living if we’re not creating memories? And if my memories are mostly about travel, why am I spending money on anything else?