Another year older. (The jury's still out on "wiser.")

Today's my birthday--the big three-seven. I still think of myself as being in my 20s, odd since I'm actually closer now to 40 than I am to 20. Age itself doesn't really bother me--I've never cared if people knew how old I was. And I'm sure the day will come when I feel as old as I am, today is not that day. I'm not sure what 37 is supposed to feel like, but I feel the same as I did when I was 36 and I didn't have any complaints then. ;)

I've always cursed my early-January birthday. Everyone is broke from Christmas shopping or you get the Christmas/Birthday combo gift; people are partied out from NYE, so no one usually feels like a big whoopin' party; you're starting back to work or school on or around your birthday; and more often than not, there's a foot of snow on the ground.

But this year I made a connection that I'd missed the previous 36 times I've celebrated this day: I'm not just starting a new calendar year this week, I'm starting a new year of MY LIFE. It's as if I get a super-double reset button or something. Talk about a fresh start!

I know--it's a small thing, and I'm probably just getting sentimental in my old age. Ahem. Perhaps I'm only looking to get more mileage out of the few 2012 goals I set, since I'm feeling less-than-inspired this go 'round. But my goals DO seem to have more meaning when I now say "these are the things I want to do in 2012, the 37th year of my life."

In any event, I kicked off my 37th year by running 3.7 miles before work this morning. Yes, I deliberately picked 3.7 miles--I thought 3.7 on my 37th had a nice ring to it. During the run I thought about how good it felt to have a clean slate and a fresh perspective on the year, both 2012 and 37.