During a time when I am feeling, not my best, I like to try and think about all the good things in life. Given it is American Thanksgiving Day, I have spent quite a bit of time the last few weeks reflecting on this past year and focusing on all the wonderful things I have to be grateful for.
As it happens, a lot has happened and changed over the past year. Painful things, exciting things, different things, experiences that are neither good nor bad but yet are experiences that help shape who we are. Today I will focus on the positives from the past 12 months. Although I will be focusing on the positive, I am also grateful for the negative. The negative experiences have been lessons learned and moments of growth.
Last November and December where quite difficult. It took some grieving, reflecting and lots of action to get me to push forward and really go for the things I wanted for myself. I was living with my parents, which was amazing but I was ready to try and live my life separate from them. I also had a job that I was really grateful for but was pretty much done with. With the help from a new year and the promise of a fresh start, I focused time and energy setting up what I felt where realistic goals for 2017 and really going for it early January. Goals:
-New job
-Move out
-Travel: specifically out of the country
-Do more outdoorsy stuff
I spent most of January applying to jobs and interviewing. Finally, I started a new job mid-February. Having a new job allowed me to finally move out in May and begin traveling in July. I fell into an organization that does a lot of outdoor education for youth, giving me the opportunity to do more outdoorsy stuff as part of my job! Long story short: 12 months later, I’ve checked off all my goals and I am so incredibly grateful for that.
I know life isn’t about checking off things on a checklist. By spending the last 12 months focusing on myself, my wants and needs, I’ve not only been able to check all those things off my list, but I’ve also gained so much. I’ve made so many new friendships, made my relationship with my family stronger, found a community of youth workers that are just as passionate about youth work as I am, travelled and got to experience new cities and cultures, I’ve learned to grocery shop (kinda, still in progress!), I’ve grown as a youth worker and have learned so much about outdoor education, I went white water rafting for the first time, I’ve camped and went without showering for more than 3 days (yucky! :P), the list goes on and on and on… I am immensely grateful for all these experiences but I am more grateful to those who helped make that happen. To my family, especially my parents, who are always nothing but supportive in anything and everything I decide to embark on. To the leadership team at my job who believed in me and that I would be a good addition to the organization. To my friends who are there for me when I need them, who have kept in touch despite living in different countries, for hosting me in Mexico City when I finally found the time to visit and for being someone I can cry and laugh with. To my coworkers who have not only been supportive and helpful when I’ve had no idea what I am doing, to becoming people I can call friends and connect on a personal level. To my new roommates who have made my moving out experience nothing but pleasant and have also become people I can turn to and trust. To my sisters who are a strong support system and even though they often times don’t respond to text messages, I know they they are listening. To everyone else who has crossed my path this past year, for better or for worse, and who I can’t think of right now because my jumbled brain is filled with so much gratitude. From the bottom of my heart: thank you.
A wonderful new friend recently told me that I have to give myself more credit for what I have accomplished this past year. In the spirit of this recent discovery, I am taking a little space in this post to show gratitude to myself. For getting my shit together despite heartbreak, setbacks and a million other obstacles that often get in the way of life. This year has been emotionally difficult but it provided the space to reflect, learn and continue being a better and stronger person than I was 12 months ago.
I hope 12 months from now I am still writing about all the things I have to be grateful for, even if it happens to be a difficult year.
Rosa Roaming 