2010 - redirection

2009 in review:

1. Became vice-president of the non-profit that I have been a board member on for 2 years. Many wonderful things happened this year for that organization.

2. Helped create a new non-profit organization and hosted our first major fundraising event on Thanksgiving Day - it was an unbelievable success.

3. Made so many local community connections and am getting some significant face recognition from others - very important in a community that values community service as much as my town does.

4. Celebrated my 2 year anniversary at my current job (sadly, the longest I've been at a job since graduating from law school).

5. Turned 31 (yeah, not everything this year was good ;) )

6. Testified at my state legislature during the summer legislative session about an issue that I'm very passionate about. So proud that I faced that fear (and, yes, it was scary even for a lawyer).

What I look forward to in 2010:

1. Training for and riding in the Tour de Gruene in October.

2. Spending more time with my 2 non-profits and making them grow.

3. Brainstorming future career plans - research non-profit jobs, etc.

4. Reading Tranquilista (just more reading in general).

5. Seeing Pink Martini in Houston on May 1.

6. Cooking more, eating out less.

7. Spending more time on life outside of work (yoga, personal growth, etc.) - I say this every single year, especially since I graduated from school and had to join the working world, but this year I'm going to do everything in my power to make it happen.

Word of the Year:

Kimberly Wilson and several other bloggers out there have written about a word of the year - just one word that puts their goals into perspective. My word for the year is going to be redirection. Like I said above, I'm looking more into the future as it pertains to both career and personal life. I want certain changes in my life, so hopefully this word will help keep me focused on that.

2009 was a great year - lots of interesting things happened to me and, when I look back, I realize that I accomplished so much. But I still want more. The end of 2010 will possibly be a major career transition for me. As my current supervisor hopefully moves up leaving her current position available, my first desire is to be promoted. That alone will create new responsibilities, a different type of law practive, and all the things that go along with changing job positions. If the promotion doesn't happen, then I'm going to have to make some pretty significant decisions about where to go from there, which will likely mean that I will move on. Where, I don't know yet, but that is what I plan to spend the year contemplating. Being a trial lawyer, even a prosecutor, is not how I want to spend my entire career. It's too stressful and too often I do not feel that I'm doing something directly beneficial to others. Being a traditional lawyer period may not even be for me. One of the foremost benefits of my current job is that I have been opened up to the joys of non-profit work. Yes, the pay is low, but as someone who now sits on 2 non-profit boards, I know without a doubt that the benefits are absolutely priceless. Regardless, I have a lot of thinking and exploring to do. Exciting, frustrating, and scary, but so necessary for me now. Here's to 2010!