Reflecting on 2017 and Looking Toward 2018
First off, I want to apologize for not posting last week as I should have based on my schedule. I know I mentioned at the end of my last post that I may not make my deadline due to the holidays, and I was right. I can’t be the only one that felt like Christmas completely crept up on me this year! With that being said, I think skipping a week worked out perfectly. I wanted to make my final post of 2017 a post about a reflection on this past year. A lot has happened in my life this year and I think I can use that growth and channel it into my writing to end the year right. I want this post to look back on my personal experiences throughout the year, and to use them to send out a positive message.
One of my accomplishments of 2017 I feel I should mention first is sticking to a schedule on this page. I started this page right out of college and really only updated here and there. I always wanted to commit to a writing schedule, but just never stuck to it. Compared to other blogs, once every two weeks is still a pretty slow pace, but the fact that I have stayed with that is huge to me. I am especially proud that I stayed on track with it when I started an entirely new schedule because of my new job. I do hope to increase my posting schedule in the near future, but I am so very happy I have been doing what I love on a more frequent basis now.
This year brought on so many new beginnings for me. With that of course also comes doors closing. There was of course some loss this year. I won’t go into too much detail here, but it really is funny how loss always brings on a new beginning of some sort. I can think of a number of things that prove that to be true just within this past year. Just remember that one door closes so an even better, grander door can open in its place. It always feels like a huge setback when that door closes, but when that new beautiful door opens, you can breathe a huge sigh of relief. I know I mention it time and time again, but losing my last job felt like such a scary thing. The longer I went unemployed this past summer the more worried I was getting for my future. Patience led me to an absolutely wonderful position I am not just happy with because of the benefits, but because I truly enjoy working there as well. Without some loss in this past year I would never have found that.
Since this page started as a weight loss page I feel I should touch on that topic as well. I started off the year describing my plan to get healthy and to be blatantly honest it just didn’t work out. I won’t sit here and make excuses but to just be plain honest I fell out of my new routine I started at the beginning of the year. To be honest, it happens. Life happens. Change happens. I already have a plan thought out for the start of 2018. I have all the resources I need, so I am just going to buckle down and do it, so expect a new routine and more posts about it in the future.
2017 was also a year of change... and I think that can be said for many. Change is a wonderful thing despite the fact that it doesn't always feel that way. I was thrown into changes this year that I absolutely did not want to face. After all that I still made it through right? Even if you are not religious think about the prayer that starts:
"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference."
Personally I grew to learn just what this means throughout the past year.
Now that I have reflected on 2017 I think it is time to look to the future. Look toward another brand new year that lies ahead of all of us. If something didn't go right this year then use this shiny new year to improve. Do not beat yourself up because you didn't reach your goals. Look forward. Move forward. Think about why you did not succeed so you know how to change to better reach said goal. Use the time you have and make the most of it. Am I disappointed because I didn't lose the weight I wanted to this year? Of course, but considering the stress I waded through to get to where I am today I believe I had a reason. Not an excuse, but a reason. I am already looking forward to the future and planning on working on that goal again. My health is the goal, not the number on the scale.
Take some time during these last few days of 2017 to think about what you really want to accomplish. Do not dwell on the past but look toward the things you can change. Start small and grow from there. Even if you had a year of growth like I did, there is always room to go even further. The sky is your limit, and if you feel like you've hit rock bottom then the great news is you can only go up. Set a goal for 2018 that you truly want to achieve and really consider all you need to do to achieve it.
Thank you for reading as always. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday(s) and I wish you all a very happy new year! Here is to sharing even more posts in 2018!
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