2023: A Year of Growth, Gratitude, and Looking Forward to 2024

Thoughts from the Intern

The correct title of this post is “2023: The Intern has a lot to be grateful for!” but El Jefe and ChatGPT told me it wasn’t good enough and wasn’t optimal, bla bla bla… My title is better and I won’t hear otherwise.

– The Intern, December 30th, 2023 at about 10:15am CDT

The inspiration for this post came from reading the ‘Daily Stoic’ which has its December 29th reading titled “Give Thanks”, I won’t copy over the entire passage but a quote from Seneca got the brain gears churning.

“In all things we should try to make ourselves be as grateful as possible. For gratitude is a good thing for ourselves, in a manner in which justice, commonly held to belong to others, is not. Gratitude pays itself back in large measures.”

– Seneca, Moral Letters, 81.19

Personal and Professional Growth

So as I stare down the end of another year, I have finally found a few moments to sit and reflect on the year that was 2023. For me, looking back at 2023 it was yet another eventful year but in that there is a lot to be grateful for and I wanted to share a few highlights to help spur you to do your own end of the year reflection.

I am grateful to have celebrated my 1st wedding anniversary and then a few months later welcome my first child into the world. (I am grateful both mom and baby have been healthy through the whole process and after labor and delivery)

I am very grateful to have a great support system of family and friends around that have helped make the transition into fatherhood a little less hard.

I am grateful that I was able to make the most money that I have ever made over the course of a year.

I am grateful to have been able to strengthen relationships with friends and family this year and strengthen and grow my professional network.

I am grateful to have gotten to do some cool things this year like visiting new places (South Padre was very nice) and getting hooked up with some sweet tickets to the San Antonio rodeo to see Turnpike Troubadours in concert.

I am grateful to have had the chance to play a small part in helping @LandMannery get the Forge II sale across the finish (just the icing on top of tons of great experience I got from working for him [an opportunity which I am very grateful for!]).

More Opportunities Ahead

I am grateful to somehow continue to stumble my way into more land and consulting work than I know what to do with and I am looking forward to what opportunities may pop up in 2024!

I am grateful to continue to have the chance to work in such a great industry like the US Oil & Gas industry full of great people and great opportunities.

I may be a little fatter and a lot more tired than when I started 2023 but what a great year it has been for the Intern! I hope you can take some time before the calendar rolls over to 2024 to sit and reflect on your year. Hopefully you too will find some things to be grateful for!

Hopefully I may get to meet or visit with some of you at NAPE in Houston here in a handful of weeks, I know that @LandmanLife and I are planning to be around for at least some of it.

Cheers! On to 2024!

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