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A fitting end to the year...

As we head toward New Year's, like a lot of people, I can't help but reflect on the past year, and I almost have to chuckle at the fact I'm ill at the moment, because 2014 has been anything but a smile-inducing year for me, and unlike a lot of years, I can't wait for the clock to strike midnight in a couple of nights to symbolize that one chapter, no matter how trying, is over, and there can be hope for the chapter(s) ahead.

The year was fairly uneventful until the month of May. I released four new books. I was mentally exhausted at that point, yet my spirits were high. I felt a new sense of hope for my literary future. My mind had been clicking more/better than at any other point in my life. I finally felt ready to go in full marketing mode, and that's when that mental exhaustion was met by a series of unfortunate events, which left me emotionally and physically exhausted as well. My girlfriend of two years and I decided it was best to part ways. A couple of days later, my dog of 13 years was diagnosed with cancer and had to be put down. Not long after that, I got physically assaulted and verbally threatened by someone whom shall remain nameless, before deciding to report the matter to the proper authorities. While life has settled down in the months since then, those events have stuck with me to a certain extent, and as it's late on the evening of December 29th, I'm counting down to midnight two nights from now more than any previous year.

Technically speaking, New Year's Day doesn't mean a great deal. It's just the symbolism of the day that's of such great importance to so many people. No matter how much pain or heartbreak one many have endured in a calendar year, we can all mentally, emotionally, and physically start over again. We can set goals for ourselves to achieve in order to improve our livelihoods. We can take a collective deep breath and say to ourselves, "It was a tough year, but we survived, and this year will be better." So, like I hope this cold I'm fighting fades into the distance as the new year approaches, I hope all our troubles, pains, and heartaches from this past year fade into the distance as well, and are replaced smiles, laughs, and successes. Cheers!

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