Happy new year everyone! I do hope you had a safe holiday season.
A lot of people are reflecting on their lives in the last decade and it’s hard not to do the same. I think it helps people grow if they can see what changes they’ve gone through and what lessons they’ve learned over the years. So here are my own reflections on the last decade: 2009-2019. I may or may not have checked Facebook Memories to remind me of this LOL!
The motherhood journey
My daughter was three weeks old when 2009 started. Although the three of us were on our own, we figured out a way to support each other. It’s always hard when you live far away from family, but somehow we made it work. I count my biggest achievements as: not dropping her, keeping her alive and not losing her. There were certainly moments of difficulties because that’s just a natural part of raising a child. But watching my daughter now I can safely say to myself that we’d done well over the last decade. I love our little family, and even if I could, I wouldn’t change anything in the last decade. I’ve learned to accept that motherhood isn’t a competition and that it’s ok when you fuck it up sometimes. Also, perfection is a myth and swearing helps when you don’t drink alcohol.
The career journey
The last decade has seen me change from job to job, career to career like a kid with a very short attention span. It wasn’t deliberate. I just had to change things up to make sure I was doing something I actually liked doing. I learned so many skills that I now use in my day job as a marketing specialist. All of the skills I learned in the last ten years led me to the role I have now. It also led me to become an author – something I’d always wanted to do but never thought of actually doing in real life. I never expected that I’d publish one book let alone three (and soon, four!). And I definitely didn’t expect them to be bestselling books! I guess you never really know where life takes you unless you give it a go. So I say to you – give it a go.
The personal journey
In life there are always ups and downs and it’s no different with mine in the last decade. What I am grateful for is that I’d learned a long time ago to know the difference between an inconvenience and a problem. I also had to remember that if there is nothing I can do to solve something, then I just have to do what I can and then be like Elsa and Let It Go. When I’m down, I find a way to cheer myself up. When I’m happy, I share it with the people I love. When friendships naturally drifted, I accepted it with no hard feelings and learned from it. I donated to charities I believed in. I avoided negative people. I shared my time with organisations I liked. And I didn’t beat myself up too much. I spent as much time with family as I could. I shared what I learned with others as often as possible. I guess the biggest thing I learned was to do my best to avoid assholes and not be an asshole myself.
It was a great decade. I hope you learned some great lessons yourself. Here’s to the next ten years!
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