HELLO friends! I hope you all had a happy and safe Christmas! New Years is coming up and I am honestly so floored at how much I’ve learned and grown since the beginning of the year! I hope you can say the same thing for yourselves as you embark on new journeys.
The thing about a new year is… you can aim to be a better version of yourself! You can start over, change and evolve.
It’s no secret that every year we learn new things, whether it be through school, work or in our own lives. We neglect to realize that we’re consistently growing; physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
2019 was an amazing year. Even though there were some major highs and absolute lows, I’m thankful for all of the lessons I have learned, as well as things I’d really want to leave behind in 2019.
So for the purposes of this blog post, I’m going to talk about some things that I’d like to take away from 2019 and then later, I’ll go into detail about things I’d like to leave behind in 2019!
Let’s get started!
Takeaways From 2019
So among the many amazing things that have happened in 2019, here are some of my highlights:
I Started The Year with 2 Jobs… and then 3!
I applied to work at this restaurant as a hostess, got the job. What followed after was: the paper work for my substitute teaching finally went through, so that made 2 jobs. Starting the year off, I went to school 3 times a week and worked 4 at the restaurant. Since substitute teaching isn’t a stable income for someone like me, I worked at the restaurant most of the time.
Later in the year (more recently), I got my third job– as an intern at an amazing company. And that job was enough with my schedule this past semester.
This was definitely a year of financial responsibility. In this time, I definitely grew in my professionalism and got exposed to the field of PR that alone motivates me to be more creative. I really feel like I came into my own this year.
I Finally Realized My Worth and Confidence
Through getting that internship, I gained so much more confidence in myself. I started to see that I had something to offer and that I always have, I just never gave myself the opportunity to do so, until this year.
I moved into a leadership role within my school’s PRSSA chapter this semester and all of that helped me learn how to work with different people, as well as bring me closer to some of my friends.
I began to see myself as this person who works hard to contribute to the bigger picture and I began to walk away from things that made me unhappy.
I Grew in My Faith
It all started when I realized that I was feeling really disconnected with myself and what I wanted out of life. So after having a talk with my mom, I decided to find myself again, spiritually, more specifically through my faith in God.
So after returning to church, I saw an old theology teacher and I told them that despite the fact that I succeeded in school and found some amazing friends, I still felt disconnected and I felt that my faith wasn’t as strong as I wanted it to be. The former teacher referred me over to a youth group and basically said that if I didn’t like it after my first time going, that I didn’t have to continue going.
Fast forward to now and I gained so many friends and reconnected with a few along the way. That alone, however, did not stop me from meeting more people within the faith. I met this amazing person, who then introduced me to their church community in North Jersey and from there, I would continue to visit and meet up with friends, from time to time.
I Traveled More
My one goal for this year was to give myself more opportunities to travel. So I made an effort to save up for a trip to Colombia to visit my family and Canada to visit my friends and family up there (read more here).
I definitely learned more about myself, gained more independence, and my love for traveling grew more during this time.
Things I’m Leaving Behind in 2019
So while I’m leaving behind the things listed below, it’s not to say that I regret any of these happening in my life. Rather, I look at these things as lessons I’ve learned and mistakes I don’t ever want to make going forward.
Toxic Relationships
This goes without saying. This year, I was confronted with a toxic relationship and it was with someone who I considered a really good friend. As time went on, however, the relationship came to a head and I had to do what was best for me and cut ties.
I had seen toxic situations unfold, but I never really saw the signs until I was in one myself. Granted, I had some traits that I quickly unlearned. Through this, I learned that I have to work consciously to keep the right people in my corner and to be strong in the face of adversity.
Self-Doubt
I’ve struggled with self-doubt, for most of my life. However, it wasn’t until I was at my internship, recently that I realized that I shouldn’t be doubting myself or in my abilities to do and contribute to something great.
If I was chosen to do a job, or to be a part of something great, it would be because I was qualified to do the job, worked hard and well with others. So BYE SELF-DOUBT!
My Expectations
Whew! This was a year of literally realizing that I needed to work on managing my expectations in all of my relationships. Since depression happens when we try to control something from either our past or future, managing my expectations was one of the things that I had trouble with and it made me depressed and anxious, from time to time.
I learned that I had to stop setting highly unrealistic expectations for people. I had to stop framing each situation as to how I would handle them and understand that most people don’t have the same willingness or ability to look for resources or do certain things as I do. I had to learn how to let go and let live.
Once I figured that out, I learned to stop getting mad at the same situations with the same people. It’s been a huge hurdle to get over, but I’m much happier realizing why and ultimately releasing any control, I ever had on the situation to begin with.
Wasting my time
OOF! This one. I was saving the best for last! This year, I have spent way too long wasting time on people who weren’t even worth it to begin with. I wasted my time worrying over things that I had absolutely no control over. I thank God every day for removing me from situations where I would’ve been spending valuable time on people, places and things that weren’t even worth my time to begin with. PERIODT.
I just wanted to take a moment to thank you all for reading and for making my year, what it is. I’m really happy and humbled to see where it has led me and I can’t wait to see what 2020 has in store for me and all of you. I wish you all a blessed and prosperous new year! I’ll be back on very soon.
Sending much love and light your way,
Catch up with me and all of my adventures on Instagram (@adynamicmentality)!
A Dynamic Mentality 