Hi there and welcome back to the final article of this blog for 2017. I sat down and reflected on this year a lot: what it's been, what is has given and also what it has taken. And although not everybody can say the same, I can say that 2017 has been good to me. Yes I've had lows where I was sitting in a pit emotionally, but even in the midst of it, God's grace carried me through it all and I am grateful to look back and thank Him for carrying me through another year. As we are heading (some of us crawling) into a new year, the question I kept asking myself is: what to make of this new year? How to tackle it? here are a few suggestions I came up with:
🌟 Keep it simple
We all have a tendency to complicate things, to overthink and blow them out of proportions, look more into things than needed to. this year let's keep it simple: take things for what they are, keep your answers short and sweet, mean what you say and say what you mean. No need for the embellishment. Go straight to the point.
🌟 Stand in your "no" and stand by your "yes"
No means no and yes well... Means yes. Learn to say no to things that do not honor you and that do not make you happy. Exercise your “no” muscle this year. No need to be mean or nasty, no need for long sentences: "No." is a sentence of it's own (refer to item #1 on list). If you don't want it, if you don't want to do it, say no and stand in it because it is your right. If you say yes to something, stand by your yes: even if everybody else says no. It's okay to be different, to think differently and to have different opinions. People don't have to understand: they just need to accept and respect it.
🌟 Quality not quantity
It took me years to understand that one and seeing my circle get smaller over the years definitely drilled it in my head. as we grow, we get into a phase where it is not about being popular anymore or having a lot of friends/ people around: it is about having that solid support system, those 3 or 4 people that have your back if shit ever is to hit the fan. It is about having people you can grow with, evolve with, people that open up your mind to life possibilities, people that build you up and that you can build up too, people you can have really deep and meaningful conversations with. That's what you should aim for in 2018.
🌟 Make space
This year, I decided to clean my closet. I am a hoarder and it is very hard for me to let go of things (literally and figuratively). But as I was cleaning my closets and packing stuff, I realized that unless you make space, nothing new can get into your life: de-cluttering your life, mind, heart [and closet] is an invitation for new things [good things hopefully] to get into your life. Essentially you are telling God and life "I am ready for something new to come my way". So don't be afraid to make space: let some people/things go, keeping in mind that if something is truly yours, if someone is meant to be in your life a) it will always gravitate around you or b) it will come back to some other time.
🌟 Ask for help
When I was done packing the things that I wanted to donate, I took all my bags outside my building and waited for my Uber. I managed to get three big bags full of clothes, shoes, and bags into that Uber but then, it got more difficult to get them from the Uber car to the donation site. I watched the Uber driver go away and leaving me out there in those streets, struggling to get those bags in! And I thought in myself: "I know this guy didn't just leave me here to handle all those bags by myself!" Then I heard a voice that said:" that's what happens when you don't ask for help." I was undone because this was absolutely true: when you don't ask for help people assume you got it and you have the resources needed to handle whatever you are going through. So why would they bother proposing to help you only to be rejected? Everybody hates rejection so no thank! 2018 is the year to grow and some phases of your grow curve/ process will require someone else to show you the way and show how to do some things you have never done before. We are all ignorant and learning in our very own ways (if you're not learning you're dead... yup I just said that) and we all need help. So no shame, no shade: be willing to acknowledge that you're stuck and that you need help because that's how you grow.
🌟 Ground yourself spiritually
Whatever you believe in: hold on to that. Practice it everyday, ground yourself spiritually everyday. my spiritual life in 2017 started out well and then fell off towards the end but i strongly believe that the reason why I was able to make it through 2017 is because I was spiritually grounded. I had made a habit to talk to God, to get into my Bible and to build my spiritual being. It allowed me to absorb life's blows better than I did in 2016. some situations I went through shook me enough to leave me in haze for days (months at time) even while being spiritually grounded so I can't imagine what would have happened if I wasn't. So I decided that 2018 would be a year for me to go back to the basics, to grow bigger roots in my faith and to do better that I did in 2017. And I encourage you to do it too.
🌟 Be Happy
Geniunely happy. Don't pretend to be happy to show your ex that you're running these streets. don't pretend so that whoever hurt you can see that you're over it when in fact you're not. Instead of putting so much effort into crafting those schemes, direct those efforts into creating genuine happiness. Put in the work! It is hard, it takes time, sometimes it feels like you'll never get it and then one day, it just happens: you can finally smile, laugh and you are absolutely unbothered. I had a friend asking me what would be my wish for 2018 if i had only one and i told him : "make 2018 my happiest year ever" and I meant it with every fiber of my being. It might not be easy: people will try me, life might try me at some time but I know Who I am and Whose I am so why fret? And plus I am making a conscious choice to not be offended and laugh as much as I can in 2018 so hopefully things should work out well. If I can do it, so can you :)
That's it for the last article of this year! I hope you had fun reading through the blog this year and that some of the things you read built you up, encouraged you, gave you hope and made you smile.
I am wishing for 2018 to be the happiest year of your life. May God turn your biggest heartbreaks into your biggest wins for 2018. And may Happiness and grace accompany you all the days of this new year.
Happy New Year to you and yours ❤
Yours truly,
The Happiness Fairy 👸
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