New year, 2020

It has been about a year since I last posted.  You may be curious as to why? Or maybe you don’t care. Regardless, I will say my reasoning behind taking a step back from sharing.  This past year I took a moment away from social media as a whole.  I have never overly participated but I wanted to scale back my involvement even more.  I only posted on Instagram four times this year where as in years past I posted multiple times a month.  This past year was honestly just busy! I started graduate school,  I was having a hard time at work, and just had personal matters happening.  I wanted to be a bit more private and rely less on social media.  I wanted to spend more time in the moment and less about posting the perfect picture with a witty caption.  I listened to that and therefore I did not participate. I took more time to slow down and enjoy my time at home.  I took weekends this year to do nothing but stay home.  I spent less time worrying about having friends, less time being upset over not having plans, and less time stressed about feeling like I have to being do something every moment.  That space left me with wonderful, fun memories with my husband in our new house.  More time to workout and work on my own happiness.  More time to watch some shows, read, organize, and save money.

As I reflect on my goals from last year I see that I surprisingly achieved many. I started graduate school and it is going really well! I love my classes and I am making great grades.  My husband and I cooked a lot at home and have made many new dishes and explored trying new things in the kitchen.  I saw Ariana Grande and Hamilton this past year.  I loved both! I did speak up more.  Did I ever time? No. But I learned that my opinion has value and I will not have others walk all over me.  Lastly, I did turn my health around! I start attending fitness group classes and watching what I ate. Ultimately, I lost ten pounds! It was really hard and took forever but it is an amazing accomplishment that I am proud of.

My 2020 goals look very similar to last year.  I do want to be a bit more specific but still make them attainable.

• Choose more wisely when it comes to food.  Less processed, sugary foods.
• Mediate. I would like to try to incorporate more meditation into my life.
• Take less work home with me.  Last year, I stopped taking papers home to grade. Now, I want to take less emotional baggage from work home.  I know it won’t happen every time but less worrying about things I can’t change.
• Continue working out.  The last 6 months have changed my health.  At the beginning of the year I was getting migraines that were becoming an issue. Working out and taking walks nightly (weather permitting) has changed my head space…literally.
• Visit more people and places.  I want to take more time to visit my friends and family in their homes instead of just seeing people on their breaks and holidays.
• Read 24 books. 2 a month. Very doable! I have already read two for January!
• Be less judgey about social media.  If someone bugs me then unfollow them. I recently unfollowed 400 people.  It was glorious!

While these won’t get done perfectly, I will try my best.  That is really all you can do! In the words of Oprah, it is another year to get it right.