Let’s Get This Party Started

So far this year has started off with a lovely ‘bang’. I have spent a good part of the day dysregulated because of the ‘fiscal cliff’ crisis here. I have been watching it closely and it has caused me a great deal of stress. I have spent the better part of the last week doing calculations and estimating the impact that not reaching an agreement would have on my wife and I. The results have been very upsetting. If they do not pass something that extends the tax cuts on the middle class, I will need to get at least a 6% raise to make sure my net pay each pay period doesn’t go down. If I get a 6% raise, and the taxes go up, my pay check goes down 64 cents a month, that same raise with taxes staying where they were in 2012, would bring me in an extra $245 a month.

The whole situation has left me very dysregulated, with me having several episodes. This is on top of 2012 ending with a bit of a ‘bang’ and a ‘thump’.

I am going to add a trigger warning to this next part due to the nature of what happened. It deals with a near accident on the road last night.

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On the way home from dinner, my wife and I got ‘attacked’ by a chair. Someone had a recliner on the back of their truck and it flew out of the back and into the middle of the road. We were able to swerve out of the way. Thankfully no one was hurt and only a tiny dent in the car, about the size of a fist. The interesting thing about this is that my pulse didn’t race, there was no anxiety, I wasn’t shaking or anything like that at all.

This is significant because a few years ago, my wife and I had a horrible auto accident that almost killed us. My wife wound up with some serious injuries and is still recovering from them over three years later. For the longest time, even if someone looked like they might get a little too close to use it would cause an anxiety attack. I would at times have to pull over to calm down.

So here we get attacked by a recliner flying through the air on New Year’s Eve on a major interstate and it didn’t even make me flinch. That’s a big change.

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Today’s mindset is crucial to the rest of the year. It can set the tone for how I view tings the other 364 days. It was a rough day, but it was only a single day. I need to shake it off and keep going. I cannot let it drag me down. I need to look forward. There will be a bad day from time to time, but that doesn’t mean that the next day will be bad as well. One bad day does not equal a bad life.

Like I said last year, I will not let 2013 be a bad year. If 2013 tries to give me crap, then I will give it a good swift kick in the butt. I am not going to go back to where I was in 2011. I won’t settle for anything less than 2012.

So like P!nk said 12 years ago, Let’s Get This Party Started.