Best. Year. Ever.

"Then the lion said – but I don't know if it spoke – You will have to let me undress you. I was afraid of his claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty nearly desperate now. So I just lay flat down on my back to let him do it."
"The very first tear he made was so deep and I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I've ever felt. The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off. You know – if you've ever picked the scab of a sore place. It hurts like billy-oh but it is such fun to see it coming away."
"And there was I as smooth and soft as a peeled switch and smaller than I had been. Then he caught hold of me – I didn't like that much for I was very tender underneath now that I'd no skin on – and threw me into the water. It smarted like anything but only for a moment. After that it became perfectly delicious and as soon as I started swimming and splashing I found that all the pain had gone from my arm. And then I saw why. I'd turned into a boy again."

-Eustace Scrubb, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

It's funny, now that I'm writing fairly regularly, I sometimes feel pressure to make sure that I get a post up. One example of when I this is when each holiday rolls around. Given that my Thanksgiving post came late and I didn't manage to get anything written for Christmas, I really felt the need to make sure that I wrote something for New Year's. In addition, the coming of the New Year is a perfect opportunity to talk about this year as a whole.

In the past few days, I've been wondering what this post would be about and the answer finally came last night in two parts. First, I was spending time with friends and they reminded me of my Giving Thanks post at about 11:45. I decided to give it another look and it was fresh in my mind as I went into downtown Hershey, Pa to watch the kiss rise. As the countdown ended, the clock struck midnight and the fireworks exploded, I said out loud to myself, "This is the best year of my life." My Dad overheard me and asked if I meant 2010 or 2011. I responded by telling him that 2010 was the best year of my life and I expect this coming year to be even better.

The quote with which I began this post is given by a young boy after he undergoes an incredible transformation. He is in what he considers to be an undesirable form and attempts to strip himself of it so that he may become a boy. He quickly finds that he is unable to execute this change himself and receives help from Aslan, a powerful lion. He describes the process as painful but wonderful and is ecstatic to return to being a boy.

I find this to be an apt metaphor for how I feel about 2010. When this year began, I was not quite what I wanted to be. It was about this time that I decided to stop trying to find who and where I should be on my own. In a leap of faith, I decided to trust something I didn't quite understand. As a result, I had a lot of things painfully pulled away from me. It was not an easy process, but just like Eustace I feel joy even through the hard times and I am so pleased with the outcome.

As I've said time and time again in this blog and elsewhere, this has been the greatest time of spiritual and emotional growth I have ever experienced. I can't say that I am a different man now, but I can say that I'm a bit wiser, more compassionate and a whole lot happier.

No matter how discontent you are or how exciting your next step is, it is amazing how vulnerable you feel when you step out of your comfort zone. Just like a young boy who has been stripped of his skin, nearly everything you come in contact with stings in some way. It is important to note that in Eustace's case, his skin could not be transformed, it had to be stripped so that he could be given new skin, leaving him temporarily raw. Even those things that you know are going to be good can be painful when they rub up against an old wound. The truth is that many of these types of wounds are not healed when you start to go in the right direction. They remain, sometimes for the rest of your life. This is where grace, wisdom and maturity allow you to move ahead and have a new beginning.

In May, I got to travel across the country, seeing some of the most beautiful places America has to offer. Since then, I have seen even more of the country, as well as Mexico. My line of work allows me to also see some of the best man has to offer. Often, I have found that the people who display the characteristics that move my soul are others who have chosen to take a risk and live in faith as well. As a result, I would encourage you to take a leap of faith this year if you never have. You don't have to move across the country and you don't have to make an incredible sacrifice. All you need to do is identify a true call and respond to it. It will absolutely open a new world of possibilities as it has for me and so many others around me.

As I look behind me at all the growth and challenges that 2010 held, I also look forward and see that 2011 holds the same. In a lot of ways, I think that 2o11 may be a tougher year than 2010. The beautiful thing is that I am prepared for it and know that this year I can continue to walk in faith and continue to become a new creation. For these reasons and more, I am so excited for 2011. Leaving the irreparable past and walking into the irresistable future is a beautiful thing.

Beard Update:

So, I haven't cut my hair in three months and I haven't shaved in two, the result is what you see below.

Yes, I rang in the new year with beard. I actually had my midnight smooch with beard. Don't ask how this is possible, it just is. I feel wild, wonderful, manly and free. It's amazing how much the time it takes to look like a bum makes you attached to looking like a bum. Again, ladies, restrain, yourselves. As they used to say on one of my favorite old SNL skits, "No! No! Too sexy!" With Beard, I feel like the Superman to my typical Clark Kent. Alas, I believe my kryptonite will be presented shortly, but I plan to have fun with it in the meantime.

Adelante!

-Clint