Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Best of 2009: Challenge, Album, and Place

I really love this best of challenge. I'm slacking a little bit, but here's the latest installment.

Best Challenge

I honestly can't pinpoint a specific challenge that I faced this year, but thinking back I feel like I've made a concerted effort to be much more conscious of my need to please everyone. The need to please is so natural to me that it's incredibly hard to control, but always ends up making me crazy in the end.

You hear all the time that "you just can't please everyone." For some reason, that's never stopped me from trying. What can I say? I like harmony in all my endeavors. However, I really felt this taking a toll on me. Why did I have to end up in tears because I felt like I wasn't making other people happy? And I'm not talking big things here like being there for family and friends or staying at work late to help out. I'm talking "Ohmygosh I'm out of candy for my desk. Need to get more for anyone who comes in to make sure they have access to sugar." Why do these things matter? I like to think it's because I'm a good person, but honestly it's exhausting to feel a need to cater to everyone else's whims.

Planning a huge event (wedding!) this past year helped me be able to say 'no'. When others told me I simply "had to have" a certain color or a blusher veil or my hair done a certain way I figured out how to assert myself and my own wants. This included me saying no to members of my family (ahem, mom and sisters, cough cough) which is incredibly hard to do for those people that I love. I won't say I'm cured of my insatiable need to please, but I can say I really feel like I can more easily figure out what is a priority and what is reasonable to worry about.

Album of the Year

Coldplay immediately pops into my head for this one. I realize Viva La Vida came out in 2008, and I got it immediately, but I still feel like it was my album of the year. That album took me through most of the year and no matter how many times I listen to it, I still love every song.

Best Place

The Sam Adams Brewery. I can't count how many times we've brought friends and family here when they come to visit. No matter how many times I go, it doesn't get boring. I could give the tour myself at this point but who can turn down a free tour with three free samples of Sam Adams at the end? This is by far the most requested place to go when we have guests. We've become a fan of the monthly open houses as well. We've been to a few and all feature free beer and a different theme. Being so close to where we live, Dane and I take full advantage of it!



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