Let me tell you what my honest, very first reaction was to this question…I literally said out loud “not a g**damn thing”. Then I paused for a moment and wondered if I answered this last year. I know the prompts are repeated every day now, but last year I didn’t always answer them each day. Last year I did though. My answer was basically that I could do anything I want differently, I just don’t want to. I had reflected on the fact that I failed on my attempt to start running again so I could finally reach my pre-covid goal of running for 10 miles without stopping.
This year though, what could I do differently? Nothing! I spent all of 2025 doing things differently. I got a whole bunch of tattoos. Big pieces too! Much different than the smaller flash sized ones I had gotten previously. I bought tickets to concerts. Prior to Katy Perry in August, the last concert I went to was before Covid. I went to the movies by myself. It wasn’t exactly a movie. It was the Taylor Swift release party event where they played the video she made that explains the songs on her new album and then the songs played with the lyrics on the screen. Not only did I go by myself, I wore a jacket with orange sequins all over it.
You know what else I did? I complained at work. I told a higher up everything that bothered me about someone I worked with. Nothing ever came of that because office politics are stupid. But I said what I said. It’s kind of like this line from one of Eminem’s new songs. Not so new anymore, his album came out at some point last year. But there’s a line in one of his songs that goes, “If I think that shit, I’m gonna say that shit.” Me too, Eminem. Me too.
And say it I do! In fact, I texted with two of the ladies I went to grad school with yesterday evening. I told them that I am not the person they remember. One of them said “you were always on the wild side” and then she continued with “I can tell by Facebook that you’ve changed”. I guess it’s that obvious.
So, having said all of that, those are some of the things I did differently last year. What do I want to do differently now? Again I say, not a g**damn thing. I want to do everything I did last year exactly the same way. I want to keep getting tattoos. I want to keep buying tickets to concerts, even if I don’t have anybody to go with. I want to keep saying honest things at work when I’m asked for my opinion.
I think you all should too. If there are things you do that you enjoy and you’re happy doing, don’t change it. Don’t do it differently. Keep doing it. Keep being you. It’s like the quote from the movie “Little Miss Sunshine”:
Exactly! Last year was delightful as I went on doing things differently. This year, I’m doing everything the same and I think it’s going to be just as good of a year, if not better. I hope it is for you all too.
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