Happy New Year's Eve, good people of North Okaloosa County!
Yes, 2015 is coming, and if you're like me, that means it's time to watch how many times you'll still write 2014 on your checks.
And to count how many days or weeks it takes you to actually get it right.
Then again, if you're like me, you'll monitor yourself for slip-ups the first few days and then, somewhere along the way, completely forget the game and just adopt those new four digits.
TIME TO PLAN
It's funny how you get used to a year, you're accustomed to it and you feel so comfortable writing it that it becomes second nature.
But really, time flies.
By one or two months into the New Year, you're probably on auto pilot and don't even think about the date you're writing anymore.
Yet, before you know it, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas and other winter holidays surprise you. And then comes New Year's Eve.
Soon, you learn those four digits have an expiration date, and you'll have to coach yourself to write a new set of digits.
With the new year comes a fresh start.
On the news side, that means long-term planning. In fact, next week, our staff will have a long meeting to essentially plan a full year's worth of special publications, expected coverage and other features we believe you'll enjoy.
We'll also ask some tough questions: What worked and didn't work last year? Which features ran their course and what can we add to keep things fresh?
Of course, we couldn't contain some surprises to 2015. You've already seen "I Am Where," the new pop quiz in each Weekend Edition that gives you a chance to win lunch for two at Angel's Speakeasy and Saloon.
(And on that topic, let me express appreciation for one reader who sends her guesses in by postal mail. She hasn't been the first to correctly answer, and I really want to suggest that she scan the form in and post her answer on social media, to save a stamp and boost her chances, but then again, our last winner did cast her vote by postal mail!)
But I digress.
I've always believed that you evolve or die, and I love that you can open the News Bulletin from year to year, even from season to season, and see the different phases or eras.
It brings great satisfaction to know that our staff is constantly re-thinking news coverage and its presentation, giving it our all, to better serve our readers.
SETTING PRACTICAL GOALS
For me, ringing in the New Year also means reflecting on the past and considering short-term and long-term goals.
Some common New Year's resolutions you hear about include quitting smoking, losing weight and exercising more often. Those are all positive lifestyle changes, to be sure, but I really appreciated Happenings columnist Janice Lynn Crose's perspective.
She expressed wanting to focus on practical goals. After all, if you set the bar too high, you may give up on the resolution all together.
That's good for idealists like me to remember.
For instance, I'm somewhat superstitious and have been thinking about that saying: Whoever you're with at the stroke of midnight is the one you will be with throughout the year.
Well, on the one night I'm actually free, the one I want to be with will be working.
So of course, the 2014 me would wonder whether she's the one I should be with in 2015 after all. Whether that long-distance friendship with romantic overtones will just stay friendship with romantic overtones.
And of course, being Catholic is the double whammy because that'll make me question whether it's a sign from above.
But the 2015 me, who wants to think practically, like Crose suggests, wants to say, "Hey, she's working. Big whoop, just get together next weekend."
And if history repeats itself and two workaholics can't ever get in the same town at one time? Well, it wasn't meant to be. And there's always Catholic Match, Plenty of Fish and all those other fun sites for us busy types who probably rely too much on the internet. (Guilty.)
There is a point to opening up about my pathetic love life. Just consider the benefit of each new year: You can be open to all possibilities. (I sure will!)
Forget 2014's baggage, heartbreak or regrets.
Write your story in 2015. Make it great.
What's your view? Write a letter to the editor or tweet News Bulletin Editor Thomas Boni.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: EDITOR’S DESK: Write your story in 2015