For My Purpose Holds

I cannot rest from travel: I will drink

Life to the lees: All times I have enjoy'd

Greatly, have suffer'd greatly. . .

For always roaming with a hungry heart

Much have I seen and known; cities of men

And manners, climates, councils, governments,

Myself not least, 

In 2013. . . 

I gained a wonderful new sister

I made a feline friend

I climbed to the lookout of the angels

I saw Radioactive Underdogs on Top of the World

I saw miracles take place in young hearts (including my own)

I shared my testimony of Christ with millions through song

I finally caught the bouquet

I recognized some weaknesses

and was reminded that weak things become strong

I marveled at the beauty of the earth

I took the next step 

I partied...

and partied...

and partied...

(I'm the activities chair in several organizations—partying is my job)

I made many new friends

and was reunited with many old ones

I was lost

I was found

I cried for pain

I cried for joy

I taught

I learned

I laughed

I loved

I lived.

How dull it is to pause, to make an end,

To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use!

As tho' to breathe were life! . . .

This year...

I will not "pause or make an end"

I will graduate from college
I will run a half marathon

I will remember my God

I will conect with others on a deeper level

I will experience another way of life

I will start a graduate program (somewhere...)

I will do things I am afraid of

I will travel with my best friend

I will continue in hope and faith. . .

To follow knowledge like a sinking star

Beyond the utmost bound of human thought. . . .

for my purpose holds

To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths

Of all the western stars, until I die. . . .

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

(Ulysses by Tennyson)