My Year of Miracles

One of the things I'm doing in my attempts to gain some semblance of life control and happiness is to define specifically what success means to me and what I want to accomplish in this life.

In particular, I've been thinking of my coming 33rd birthday. I used to, whenever someone would turn 33, tell them (apparently over and over again according to my friend Elizabeth) that 33 was the age Jesus was when He died. My sister-in-law, Julie, turned 33 two years ago and I shared the same happy news with her. Her reply was, "I know. It's my year of miracles." I decided that this was a much nicer turn of phrase than, "Hey, did you know Jesus died when He was your age?" So I've adopted calling 33 the year of miracles. My poor friend Elizabeth wishes I had had this epiphany when she was 33!

So, in five months I begin my year of miracles and I was thinking in the shower this morning that I should list 33 miracles I want to accomplish in my year. Reading my scriptures, all in one year. Writing a book. Then I thought, "Well those are grandiose ideas, I need something smaller?" Running 33 miles? Never. Never going to happen! Walking 33 miles? Too too easy. Walking 33 miles in a day? Not going to happen. Walking 33 miles in a month? Again, too easy. 33 miles in a week? Yeah, probably not going to happen either. Abandoning all pretense of ever exercising again? Most likely. Anyway, the thought persists and will probably be part of my, "What is success to me and what is my purpose on this planet?" discovery.

What would you want to accomplish in your year of miracles? All ideas happily accepted (I did briefly entertain the running 33 miles idea....)