How do you define a year?

If you’re like me, then December is a time for reflection, a liminal month where we both look back, but look ahead, too, and imagine the future that lays before us. And if you’re one to reflect like this, I wonder what the past year has meant to you. And more importantly, I wonder how it has defined you?

    If you were to tell me about the year gone by, what has mattered most to you? What has made you happiest? What has been your greatest struggle? Have you overcome it?

    In what ways were you an agent of your own fortune, and in what ways did you rail against the world? In reflecting on these things, I always ask myself the same question: what was my greatest moment? What was the best day of the year gone by? I’ve asked this question a lot lately, and fortunately, I am in the position where it is so hard to decide, as there are so many contenders for greatest day. But I’m aware, too, that my greatests don’t simply roll along like a tide. 
No, they are crafted, curated almost, in the hopes of greatness. Happiness, it seems, is deliberate. These days are resultant from a willingness to take risks, to spur adventure, and to seek that which lies beyond the horizon. It’s not enough to wish to define yourself: sometimes you just have to do it.

  So with that in mind, I wonder what has defined your year, and as you look back at 2021, I wonder if it has satisfied you? Did you live deliberately? Was it all that you’d hoped it would be, or is something missing still?
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  And if so, what is it? And what will define you in 2022? Whether you think you know the answer, or whether you’re still searching, I encourage you to pause, consider, and reflect on the year gone by, and decide what matters most to you. And just as importantly, I urge you to look ahead to the new year, and decide how, and when, and what might define you. Whether or not the answer comes clearly is up to you, but it’s my sincere hope that Red Rock might be part of that journey of self-discovery, and that you might be part of mine. Until that time, I wish you health, happiness, and dry feet.

Yours in adventure,

Nathan

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