On to the next

Life is so fantastic.

It makes my ribs concave with internal laughter when I read my most recent post prior to this regarding my introduction to New York City.  I cannot waste any more energy expending my current distaste toward life in New York and its denizens.  It is a fount of negativity, and I have spent enough time slandering it across social media.  I will say, however, that I am one happy man to now be free of those shackles! Since October of this year I have worked out of Minneapolis-St. Paul instead, and I have truly come home in these wonderful Twin Cities.

More on all of that later.  For now, I just need to express my gratefulness for the goodness of the Season.

I have my own apartment all to myself.  It's more than I've ever paid for a place, but I can afford it and it is so nice to be able to come home to your own privacy.  No one needs to know what I'm doing with my day, whether it be lying in bed until 1:00 pm, drinking two bottles of wine to myself, not getting dressed except to go to the store, cooking whatever I want, staying up late watching whatever I want to watch, etc.  That is worth the money, honey, and I deserve it.  That being said, I have lovely friends in my immediate vicinity and nothing is really too far away.

After a lot of hard life lessons, heartache, loneliness, self-esteem issues, rejection, etc, I have finally found a happiness that is real.  I made it myself.  I got a career I knew I wanted, and you can read through my past on this very blog and understand that it did not come easily.  That career gives me the freedom to be who and what I want to be, to go where I want to go, and to afford a relatively comfortable way of life, particularly relative to my previous professions.

I have a mother who loves me to my core and has supported me through all of my hardships.  Some things have been difficult or uncomfortable to discuss, but I know I've always been able to turn to her for counsel and love.  If I am down, she always lifts me up, so I attribute a huge amount of my success in life to her.

I have very close friends with whom I am in touch on a daily basis.  This is the first time in my life that I can really say that.  We've kept in touch every day since I moved away from Phoenix back in February, recently took a vacation to New Orleans together, and I'll be visiting them in Phoenix on two layovers this month.  They have both been incredible cheerleaders for me as well, and they offer a friendship that asks for nothing in return.  If I am in a hard place, I know they'll be there for me to talk to without judgment and are always on my side.  There is a real comfort to that.

I have expelled a very negative influence from my life and been free of him for almost three happy months now.  I hope he finds his way in life and learns to be a better person, but our parts in each others' stories is now over.  Contrarily, I have been dating a very positive new man for about two and a half months.  It has been a very patient and healing relationship for me, so I find myself in a very uplifted position from that as well, and I hope it grows into more as time goes on.

So much to be thankful for, truly.  Merry Christmas to everyone.  May the Joy of this beautiful season find a warm place in all of your hearts.

Now if only I could stop taking trips that sign in at 6am...