Goodbye

This is so sad. It is sad that on ending this project, I am not sad. I thought it would be bittersweet and that when it was over I would walk away knowing I tried my best. Instead I am closing this book knowing that once again I did not finish something I set out to do. Oddly, I am not down on myself for that. On the contrary, I feel empowered because I chose not to continue with this when I realized that it was no longer beneficial to me.

Pressuring myself to read a quantity of books was really silly. Books are not like that. I may still have book challenges in my future, for instance maybe I will read all of Proust. But putting a time limit on a quantity of books isn't paying respect to the work, the author or yourself.

It has been a year since the invention of this challenge; the purpose was to see that I could accomplish something. I did. I dealt with the tragedy of my dog's heart condition, I gave money to charity and it felt amazing, I survived another Christmas in Miami, I bought a car, I poached my first egg, I went to Boston and strolled through Harvard, I started recycling, I got 2 internships, I got a year closer to graduating, and the greatest things I did this year is I learned that I am fine. I am not what I do or a product of my failures or successes. I guess that is it right there, this book challenge taught me that if I don't finish something, nothing changes. I am no better, I am no worse, I am only who I am, and that is enough.