I think one of my biggest assets in this blog, and possibly in life, also tends to be one of my biggest faults. Most of the time when I write things down in the blog, it stems from some emotional moment I've had or something that pushes me, or motivates me to put my thoughts online. The more I thought about this, the more I started realizing that emotion drives so much of what I do. Common sense and level-headed decision making are almost the opposite of what I find to be interesting in my life, but recently I've begun to notice the beauty of calculation and of obedience and self control, again. My independence and need for freedom drove me in a different direction than what I think I really wanted to go in, because I felt like I was being forced to do things. In reality, and I think this fact has been played to death for all of us, it is mastery of self-control and the ability to adapt quickly to unexpected situations or, if you are lucky enough, to be over-prepared, that really lead people to successful lives and happiness. I guess if I were to make a new years resolution, that would be it. That I would continually strive for the self-control now that will unlock opportunities and blessings in the future, and hope that as it will be difficult for the first few months, that I can find the strength to continue and see some early reward for making the sacrifices now that I need to in order to succeed. That, and get my ass to the gym. I miss my muscles.