Thankful

The things that I have to be thankful for are many, my family, my health (sort of), and most importantly my friends. There are many other things I can list but those are the top few. Friends are the family God never gave you. There's the saying that "you're born into your family, but you chose your friends". I feel I've made some great choices. I'm lucky I guess. I'm thankful I know.

It's amazing that this year is almost over. I swear this year has been one of the shortest years ever! I think February had only like 8 days, I mean that's the only way I can explain the shortness of this year! It must have been one of those "leap" years. Well whatever the case, I'm telling you this year seems amazingly short to me. This year was also very trying for me. It by far has been one of the, if not the hardest year of my life.

Last year I left a great paying job on the verge of receiving a large raise. I wasn't happy. Last year I realized I didn't want to live my life doing something that didn't make me happy, no matter how much money I made. I took a "part time" job, actually now that I think about it, it wasn't really part time. I mean I worked 38 hours a week so I was just 2 hours shy of being "full time". I quickly realized that 15 units of school and working 38 hours was a bit more than I expected.

That was the reason I left, I was returning to school to follow a dream that I've had since I was a child. I want to work with cars. When I was a kid I dreamt of designing engines for automobiles. I wanted to look at cars driving down the street and say "I made that". After attempting to become a Mechanical Engineer, I quickly realized that math wasn't my strongest subject. So that dream faded away, but the desire was still in me. After achieving a point in my "career" that I thought I'd be happy with, I realized I wasn't. I realized that I wanted to be happy and money wasn't everything in life. That's when I quit and went back to school. Mechanical Engineering was out of the question but I still want to see an automobile either rolling down the street or on television and be able to say "I made that".

I'm going back to school to learn Auto Technology, or in easier to understand words, I want to be a mechanic. My goal is to open my own shop in the not too distant future and lean towards performance oriented work. Eventually I'd love to be somewhat of a "So-Cal Speed Shop". I want people to bring in their cars and intrust them to me so that I can turn them into the tire melting power plants that will capture the attention of all people within ear shot of my creation. It will take time, but the excitement I get from just imaging it is proof enough that I'm doing the right thing.

The decision to leave my previous job was hard, but I did it with a goal. I immediately enrolled in school and told myself that I would give myself at the most 2 years to be employed in some type of auto repair/performance related field. I told myself that if in 2 years I hadn't done this then this would have been the single worst decision I have ever made. If you know me, you probably know I trust my decisions unconditionally. I believe in myself, I've gotten myself this far, I can push myself further, I know I can.

Last week I accepted a job as an Auto Tech in a reputable car shop, more than a year ahead of the time frame that I had given myself. I start my new job in about 3 weeks. I'm happy. I'm thankful for the opportunity that I gave myself to be happy. I'm thankful that I believe in myself enough to take a risk. My life has been full of decisions, hard ones, but I feel I did my best in every situation to be true to my dreams and beliefs. It has been a hard year, I'm sure I'll mention it again but like I told a friend of mine last night "with every door that closes a new one opens". I know it's an old cheesy saying but this year more than any, it rings true for me. There are doors that have not fully closed for me yet but I'm okay with that too, I still move forward towards my dreams.

I'm thankful that I've had this year to grow. Gnarls Barkley - Crazy, I loved that song the first time I heard it, now it will always remind me of this year. I'm thankful that I've met the people that I have this year. I'm thankful for the experiences I will never forget. There is no amount of money that could have bought me the memories that I will have forever from this year. I'm thankful.