It’s that time of
year yet again where an entire year has passed and it’s time to reflect on all
the good, bad and ugly that has happened in the past (almost 365 days)
This year I can say
that a lot has felt good but a lot has also felt wrong, or for a better choice
of word I should say that a lot has felt unfamiliar.
But despite how unfamiliar
or uncomfortable things have felt I pushed through because I knew
there was a bigger picture on the other side of it all.
So now that I’m on
the other side... well at least I think I am, here are my key takeaways that
2015 has taught me...
1. Courage
This year I did the
bravest thing I think I have done to date, after struggling with anxiety coming
to terms with where it was coming from, I woke up one morning and decided that
it was time for a change. So I booked a one way flight to my favourite city and
started over.
I left my family, my
friends a job that I adored and every comfort that I had ever know. I stepped
so far outside of my comfort zone that it threw me to the point where I didn’t
recognise myself, but despite how hard I found it and at time still find it, I
am so happy and proud that I found the courage to move on from what no longer
served me or helped me to grow in the way I needed.
2.
Family and Friends
Moving someplace new
to start over alone was really tough in the beginning. It wasn’t until a few
weeks in that I realised that I was physically Completely alone.
Don’t get me wrong
I’m an Aquarius so I’m pretty fine in my own company, but too much of
one thing is never good for anybody.
Being here alone and
starting over has taught me to value the relationships I have at home with
family and friend and also the new relationship I have built since being here.
Because despite living a plane ride apart, we still love and support each other
just the same. They are still the people I call to share my good news with and
they are still the people who help keep me together when I am down.
3.
Letting go of clutter
Literally and
metaphorically!
I seriously was a few
hand bags away from becoming an official bag lady!
For years I’ve had
this idea that I would save all of my absolutely fabulous dresses, bags and
shoes for my unborn daughter who would of course be the exact same size as me
and would undoubtedly have the same taste.
At some point I had
to get real and realise that I was holding on to a bunch of stuff that I had no
use for especially, with no kids even in the pipeline!
As I started getting
rid of a lot of this clutter, I realised that I needed to do the same
with a lot of the mental and emotional baggage that I had been holding on to.
There was no sense in keeping what has passed and no longer served me because
it was simply taking up space for new possibilities.
4.
Self appreciation
This is something
that I am still learning how to do. It sounds pretty simple right? Well when
you live in a world that encourages people to care about the lives of
other people more than your own and to constantly try and Keep up with the
Kardashians never mind the Jones, you forget how important it is to simply keep
up and balanced with yourself.
Learning to say no
to people and learning to say yes to yourself as well as to trust your
instincts is one of the most important things that you can ever do for
yourself, but it’s also one of the hardest.
Saying no to others
doesn’t make you selfish and doesn’t mean that you don’t care, it just means
that you understand the importance of treating yourself with the love, respect
and kindness that we so readily give to others. Afterall, if we can’t do these
things for ourselves who are we to expect it from anyone else.
5.
Sacrifice
In comparison to the
lives of others, I’ve never really had to sacrifice much, I’ve always have a
great family, friends, a roof over my head, food on the table, more clothes and
shoes than one person can have and so far have travelled to over 20 countries.
Quitting a job I
loved and that allowed me to have multiple holidays a year, not having my
family and friends living around the corner from me and having to find the
willpower to walk past ZARA on a daily basis and fight the temptation to
go inside and buy myself something pretty, are all luxuries that I have had to
sacrifice for the past 6 months. Small sacrifices in the grand scheme of
things, but big huge sacrifices to a girl who hasn’t had to sacrifice much in
life so far.
Making these
sacrifices has taught me to be grateful for the things I do have and to live
in the moment, rather than focus on the things I don’t have.
This year has been a
true year of lessons some much harder than others but all as valuable as each
other.
Overall I have
learned to be thankful for what I have as well as what I don’t have; to accept
things and people for who and what they are; not to have too many expectations
of others and to explore self-love.
I hope you were able
to take something away from my 2015 takeaways?
Feel free to share
what you’re best 2015 takeaways have been.
Love Sara. xxx
