I wrote this earlier for another website but as the New Year is drawing ridiculously near now, then I'll make sure this is cross-posted with several other sites I'm on then. So here it goes!

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It's that time again.

As I start this journal at about 3:52pm UK time (GMT) and with the sky outside my house starting to turn more and more dark blue, onward to turning into the darkness of the evening, I figured it would be the best time to reflect on the year that's now passing by (and also something to help me through what is undoubtedly the worst sore throat I've had in a VERY long time) and wow...where do I start?

For one thing, its nowhere near as soul-crushingly awful as 2011 was so that's one thing that was right about this year. Does it mean its been all plain sailing? Not really, the year also had its huge terrible pitfalls for me and there are some things with my life and about ME that come 2013, I need to work on improving and trying to change for the better. That or need to make a conscious effort to help manage better. But when the year got good...oh gosh, I can't even begin to say just how great these things have been. Pretty much the most solid Disneyland Paris trip I've been to so far, a Halloween that for the first time since 2005 *didn't* suck, a great Christmas, new steps in my life that's helping me be more independent and responsible and most significantly of all, the most bearable Summer I've had in a very long time with a lovely week-long trip and of course, as I'm a UKer, the Diamond Jubilee celebrations and best of all, the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games to enjoy (I managed to get tickets for me and my Dad for the Olympic Park while the Paralympics were still going on and I can honestly say that it was one of the best experiences I've ever had, it was a truly magical day).

This was also the year I got myself a Cineworld Unlimited membership and started a film blog and its already a great experience running it as I've seen far more films in the cinema than I used to do and I feel a lot less afraid to go more adventurous with what I go in for now. Incidentally, one of my resolutions for 2012 was "be more open-minded" and I think I certainly succeeded with that and that'll only be something that'll get more and more prevalent with me over the next year and I look forward to seeing where that leads. I'll give myself a bit more control in 2013 though, I feel, but I'm still going to see what I can do to juggle these emotions and outlooks the right way.

I'm not pretending that the bad stuff over this year didn't exist, like I said there's been terrible pitfalls along the way (and a lot of these I'm not sure I can even say outloud on this journal). So it wasn't all perfect, but again when this year got good...it got insanely, overwhelmingly good. I'm surprised though by how many people around me hated 2012 and can't wait for 2013, almost like 2012 for a lot of people was what 2011 mean't to me. And to those people, I feel its only best to echo the words that I said on last year's New Year's introspective (by echo, I mean copy-and-paste but ignore that ) and simply say the following:

"Life is a strange thing. Sometimes when all's going well, it suddenly falls down an opposite route. But then eventually just as things feel so bad, there'll always be something that comes out from out of the blue to make everything better. To quote a popular song from the beginning of this new millennium we're in: "Life is a rollercoaster, you just gotta ride it" (Ronan Keating, "Life is a Rollercoaster", 2000). No matter what happens in this world and in our lives, there will always be hope. Hope comes in many forms and many ways, either from luck or a random change in situation or from those around us offering help or at least being there to make us feel all is still right with this world. Hope should never be taken for granted, but neither should time when you think about it.

If you had a rough year like a loooot of people did, then don't despair. With each coming of the New Year, we all start again from a blank slate. With every coming of the New Year, we all start afresh. For many, its already the New Year but for others, there's still hours and hours to go. But no matter how long it takes, that clean, blank slate we can start afresh on is almost here and with it, we can look forward to what the new will truly bring us, safe in the knowledge that no matter what happens, hope will always be here. Positives and negatives will come with every year, sure, but there's also the hope that the positives can shine more. To some people, there actually are plenty of positives, we just don't focus on them enough! But with every year, no matter what happens, there's good and hope in all however you find it, unless of course it comes to you first."

And that's as much as I need to say there. Other than that, I'm being cautiously optimistic over 2013. This year was so huge with so many things and through so many ways that I feel 2013 might be a bit more scaled down in comparison to 2012 but to what effect, I don't know yet. But again, who knows what the year will bring. Like I said last year, each year we start again on a blank slate. And we should embrace the new like this and embrace what positives it brings...so no matter what happens in the year ahead, no matter wether I look back on this journal in a year's time either complacent with the year or feeling glad that its over, I still look forward to what's ahead and what that'll bring.

And with this all now said, I wish you all a very safe, happy and hopefully fantastic 2013. So long 2012, you've been wonderful. Now its time to welcome 2013 with us and embrace it with open arms and hope for the best!

Your's very pretentiously,
Eric B. (aka Jace F.)

P.S. Oh btw, we're all still alive and its New Year's Eve 2012. I told you so!