New beginnings and lessons learned

My G-d am I glad that 2006 is over with! Before we move fully into 2007, let me share with you the lessons I learned from 2006:

• Have faith in something. Multiple things, if possible. For me it is: my family, my friends, G-d and myself (the order varies on any given day) and those have gotten me through far more than I thought I could handle. Believe. Trust. Good things.
  
• All those tests your doctors tell you to get regularly when you get older? Mammograms, colonoscopies, etc? Yeah. Get them. On time. Every year. For real people - it can save so much pain and heartache. Not to mention your life. I mean, I know they are uncomfortanle and inconvenient, but so is dying. Only infinitely more so. Really...just get it done.
  
• Insure everything and insure it well. G-d bless my car insurance is all I can say about April 2006.
  
• Call a doctor if taking a five minute shower forces you to take a fifteen minute nap. Same is true if your temperature exceeds 110 degrees. In fact, at that point, call a cab and get your ass to the hospital. I don't care how strong or Midwestern you are, you need some medicine.
  
• Find humor in all that you can. This was not the best year for me or for a lot of people close to me, but life offers so many chances to laugh and enjoy and I'm glad I didn't lose sight of that this year.

Okay, so thoughts for 2007...

• Prioritize family and friends. I'm not promising phone calls every week (or even at all), but more letters and emails and reminders of how often I think of them. Because it's a lot more than I probably let on.
  
• MUST. TAKE. THE. GRE. Don't know why I haven't. This will be the year. It's silly that I don't have a master's yet. And that I haven't even started.
  
• I've gotten so much better about finding balance in my life. My work hours are way down (although still high, I know) and I'm making smarter lifestyle choices, but there is still much to be done in the way of improvement here: more time at the gym; less pizza; etc.
  
• I'd like this to be the year that I start taking steps towards some financial stability. I am 26 years old and still often living paycheck to paycheck, with little more than a few hundred dollars saved. This is not okay, but a miracle answer will not be found in twelve months. Still, foundations can be put down this year.

Hope y'all had a wonderful time ringing in the New Year! Enjoy the remainder of your time off and all that jazz.