Welcome 2023

 

It's been a trying year but I am grateful for the lessons learned. Through all the experiences, I've grown stronger.

I do owe it to dear family and friends who were there helping me get through the toughest year.

After so many years, I finally let go of all the negative people and things in my life; everything that was holding me back. And I've never felt better. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulder.

Why did it take me this long to do this?

Well, no point wondering. No point looking back. I'm just going to look forward.

Aside from choosing to let people go... Without a choice, I've lost so many people dear to me. As much as I miss them and as sad as I am, it has taught me how precious life truly is, and that we should all treasure our loved ones who are still here with us. We should always remind them how much they mean to us and how much we love them.

This year has also taught me to be patient.

I've had a few close calls with a nervous breakdown but I fought through and came out of it stronger.

I've had to juggle work and had to make sure my family was okay.

Between my mum and the two kids, I've been trying to keep up with their doctors’ appointments in between work and my own personal goals.

But that is okay. I want to make sure my family is okay first.

On the bright side, I've managed to accomplish quite a bit this year and published my second book. It was a mad rush but I did it. I kept to my goal of publishing a book each year since 2021 and I hope to continue to do so.

So here we are on the last day of 2022 and I'm grateful for the good and the bad 2022 has thrown at me.

It surprised me how everything suddenly and miraculously worked in my favour when I decided to not allow negativity into my life. I realized how my then situation was only leading me to a blessing. Nothing was a mistake.

Life hits you differently when you stop trying to prove you didn't say that or you didn't do that. You can't fix every lie and rumour and neither can you defend yourself every time something is said about you. Just keep being you.

It took me a whole year to understand that sometimes a person doesn't even love you for real. They just know you're a good person and they would hate to see you loving another the way you loved them. Well? I take happiness over history and am letting that toxic shit go.

I'm proud of myself. I went through every type of pain, family issues, trust issues, heartbreak, insecurities and depression... I went through it all and never gave up.

I know I am on the right path because I feel good about moving forward and I cannot care less about looking back.

I will focus more on the people who inspire me rather than annoy me. This way, I know I will get much further in life.

Now it is time to do what is best for me. I am going to my wounds into wisdom.

I can't re-write my past but I can grab a clean sheet of paper and write my future and I sure am looking forward to 2023.

These past couple of years, there were places I thought I was destined to go, for which I was never meant. There were people I thought would ride with me forever, but at the first junction, upped and left.

There were hardships I thought would last a lifetime, but with time were swiftly swept away. There were plans I thought I had all set out, but those were not the cards of life I was dealt. There were times I thought things would end up differently, but I now understand that God always knows best.

I am now so confident about God's plan that I don't even get upset anymore when things don't go my way.

So this is me kissing the past goodbye. This is me leaving some of the baggage behind and learning how to forgive myself.

The burdens that I carried for too long, the fears that haunt me with every new exciting opportunity and the voices inside my head that cripple me from finding joy... this is me kissing them all goodbye.

I am still learning that the past don't always repeat itself, that I've grown and learned and evolved so I can trust myself to make better decisions.

And for you who are reading this; I hope you find the courage to change your life; in the small ways, in the big ways, in every way that matters. I hope you do not end this story with a heart full of regrets. I hope you do not spend 2023 just waiting for your life to begin.

I hope you realize that this is not the practice run, this is not the preview. This is it. There is nothing to do but leap. There is nothing to do but allow yourself to exist as boldly and honestly as you can.

You will think you have forever, but you do not. It all happens, and it happens quickly. You are not waiting on another person, or the right timing, or for everything to fall into place. You are waiting to feel ready enough to exist within the question, to not need every answer, and to know that this life does not come to us to be perfectly understood, but to be fully experienced, in every direction we can possibly reach.

Happy New Year!

#BriannaWiest #RaniaNaim #Fairy #KristenButler #CatherinePulsifer