I think it is fair to say that I have never had as crazy and unpredictable a year as 2018 has been. Thankfully I have made it through the hard parts and have ended the year on a high. It all really started with a not so great mindset going in to New Year 2018.
In 2014 I started a ritual of bringing in the New Year at home and taking a moment before midnight to be grateful for my blessings and lessons from the outgoing year and setting my intentions and naming my goals/desires for the incoming year. It has worked for me each year. Life kept getting better and better where I wanted it to. Unfortunately I went into 2018 at a party and did not take the time to centre myself and follow my usual routine. I could have but I allowed myself to be distracted. The result…I went into 2018 with my thoughts and emotions all over the place and no clear intentions and goals named. So that is what I manifested this year, a mixed bag of highs and lows. I didn’t even see most of them coming.
I have written a lot about the lows the past few months (on the rare occasions when I did write) so today I am going to focus on the highs.😁
It all started in on a Thursday in February this year when my boss popped up at my desk and asked if I was keen to go to Dubai for a few days for work. Who was I to say no! Visa applications were quickly sorted and plane tickets were booked and before I knew it, boom! I was on a plane to Dubai with him. It was a hectic visit from a business perspective but I also got to experience a taste of Dubai. We did the desert ride and had supper in the desert. I fell in love with Lebanese food and was awed by the sheer size and opulence of the Dubai mall.
A month later I was off to China for a few days. Boy was that a long trip or what! China was a bit of a culture shock but it was a good experience all around. I am still blown away by the amount of food everyone seems to eat and yet they are all so tiny. It was fascinating to put my anthropology student hat on and learn how, in a lot of ways, Chinese culture is similar to African culture but there is also a lot that is different.
My son continued to blow my mind this year. His swimming technique improved dramatically in a short space of time. He stepped up to be the goal keeper in his soccer team when no one else wanted to do it even though it was no longer a position he enjoyed. He blew me away at his karate tournament. We have been working on focusing on what we want rather than fearing what we don’t want and it showed in the way he carried himself and fought and won his fight. I thought my heart was going to burst with pride! He knew he had not been consistent with his school work and as a result he received far fewer awards that he had hoped for. To his credit, he did not dwell on this and instead saw it as motivation for next year. So much so that he even drew the pic below for his wall so that he doesn’t forget. I am also amazed by how he has handled his granny’s passing. Every month at the time she passed, we light a candle and each say a prayer for her and to say thank you for her. This month, although he was on holiday with his dad’s family, he insisted that I video call him so that we could light the candle and say our prayers for granny. He is such an amazing soul. I am truly blessed to call him my son.
Lastly, after all the sadness and stress I have been facing since August, along came shiny happy December 😃. I was promoted at work, I started my gratitude challenge for the month on IG and Facebook and it has left me in a good place mentally for 2019. I have had so many little surprises during the month as well which I believe is as a result of consciously being grateful everyday.
2019 is going to be an awesome year for me and my son. I have declared it my Year of Yes. Everyone who knows me, knows that I normally prefer to hide at home because I can. I have lived my life in fear of so much simply because I believed it was the only way to cope as a single woman and mother in this world. The problem is that I have merely been surviving and it is time to start thriving! It is time to accept that I am worthy of so much more and all I have to do is believe it and receive it. So that is what I will be doing this year. I am so excited! I can’t wait!
I wish you all a safe and Happy New Year! May you manifest your desires in 2019. Thank you for all your support in 2018 and I pray that you will join me on my new journey in 2019! It’s gonna be a quite a ride!
Grounded African 