2009 - What A Year...

It's been quite a strange year - at once it seems to have slogged on forever and to have gone by in the blink of an eye.  At the beginning of the year I was a wreck - depressed and miserable, no idea what I wanted to do with my life, living in a roach hotel without heat or water (during below-freezing winters). Not a good situation.  Now, as I sit here and delve into my nascent blog, I cannot help but smile.  Life is good.

How did I move from dejected misery to, well, being happy?  We'll get to that later.  In the meantime, here is some of what I've experienced in the past 345 days:

• Moved three times.  Not a big fan of moving, but, as I've discovered, when you don't know yourself, you don't know what you're looking for - out of a living situation especially.   At any rate, I now know that I really like living where there is heat during the winter.
  

• Been on a vegetarian diet, the Standard American Diet (SAD) and am currently Primal.  I like to experiment with different lifestyles - a constant effort to find the "best fit".  Eventually I found the Primal diet (and general lifestyle) and haven't looked back.
  

• Lost 50lbs. of fat and gained 15 lbs. of muscle.   I've experienced quite a transformation physically, thanks to a change of menu and habits.

• Lost someone very important to me.  May 29th my grandfather died, a man who greatly influenced who I am today and had been a bastion of stability in my life.  Thankfully, his death had the positive effect of bringing my family closer together, as well leading me to think very deeply on the transient nature of life.  Silver linings - always find them.
  

• Made many friends.  I've also had some relationships grow weaker, and have had to terminate others.  The type of people you surround yourself with will greatly influence your journey toward contentment.

• Started a job I hate and found a career I love.  Serving up processed meat on white-bread buns for a soulless corporation can be frustrating when you are an advocate for healthful living and local businesses that give back to the community.  However, this facilitates my new schooling endeavor: massage therapy!  There's a job you can feel good about, trust me.

• Let my finances spiral out of control, then reigned them in.  Last year I accrued a substantial amount of debt due to school (and have nothing to show for it).  Add another $8000 for massage school, while working a minimum-wage-slave job, and things start feeling overwhelming.  After a few overdrafts and a lot of fretting, I decided enough was enough.  Now I put down 3-4 times my minimum payment and still have enough to put into savings.

• Discovered Lifestyle Design, frugality, minimalism and many more amazing concepts.  The power of blogging!  The inspiration for why I am sitting in a coffee shop (on my 4th cup of Ethiopian, dark) typing this up.  I have to thank people like Tim Ferriss, J.D. Roth and his crew, Leo Babauta, David Turnbull, Mark Sisson, and so many more.  These people have truly inspired me to get off of my keister and actually do something with my life.

Really, that's just the tip of the big, ship-devouring iceburg that was 2009.  It's impossible to encapsulate a life with words, but sometimes we can write down enough to learn a bit about ourselves, and others.

And so I ask you - what are your major "landmarks" for the past year?  What events inspired you?  Have you made any significant changes or come upon profound realizations?