2018 Year in Review

Greetings Daizies,

As another year comes to an end and a new one just around the corner, it’s always great to reflect on the year and what became of it. For a few years now I have kept a journal and at the end of the year I read all of the journal entries. This year was the year I wrote the most, so reading them all back was like a story. I felt so many emotions, as life always presents you with ups, downs, twists and turns. I did a really great job at processing my thoughts through journaling. I was open with my thoughts and feelings, and took time to reflect on them and truly be honest with myself. Reflecting helps me to give thanks to what I’ve learned and move forward to a new year with a new mindset.

Goal setting

I set my goals in the themes: Career, Health, School, Business, Finances, Personal, Travel, Learning & Fun, Spirituality, and Relationships. This helped me organize my thoughts and ideas based on the different aspects of my life. I lost interest in some things I had wrote down, like getting a car or reaching 10K followers on Instagram and Youtube. And reshaped some important goals like the medium in which I launched Curl Calendar. What seemed like what was really important in January, could change based on my interest and energy. I like that. In my head there’s of course things that are more important than others. Graduating from college of course had more weight than going to Essence Fest. I’ll try again on a few things I didn’t meet, but overall I had some life changing moments in 2018.

Biggest Accomplishments

My biggest accomplishment in 2018 was graduating from college! This was a huge goal and it was the most exciting time of the year. I really enjoyed celebrating myself and with others of such a monumental moment in my life. I wanted this year to be filled with me enjoying accomplishing something amazing, having fun, and relaxing. For 5 months, I did just that. I had the spring and summer I hoped for, traveling to Vegas, Chicago, Texas, and Cali.

This year was filled with first and real adult moves in my life like getting my first apartment and starting my first job. Having a place to myself was everything I could’ve imagined. There’s nothing like coming to a place that is all yours and doing whatever you want. I was nervous about the start of my first job in my career and I am glad I am getting in the swing of things. I think the work is interesting and I am glad I am not working long hours. I am still learning and think I’ll have an amazing first year.

Reoccurring theme

One of the words I mentioned frequently throughout my journal was “priority”. With referring to where I stand in importance among others’ lives, I often was deeply affected this. It stood out a lot, which is why I like reading the entries all at once. I can see what was pulling at my heart and occupying my mind. I want to be thought of and shown as being a priority. Now I want to be thought of and shown to myself as a priority to ME. I think that could be something I can work on next year and just in general. Sometimes my idea of whether I’m important to someone could be based on fear, insecurity, miscommunication. Determining what’s negative self talk and what is actually happening was important with moving forward in certain situations. I know that I am sensitive to actions that in any way represent that I am not a priority or important in the way I think I should be. I reflected on this a few months ago and made a list of ways I can be a priority to myself and for myself. I look forward to putting those thoughts into action.

How can I have the confidence in myself to know I’m important no matter what?

Health

I think this year I was a lot more active. I walked more, I went to the YMCA as often as I could, and I did dance sessions in my living room. It’s been a full year of drinking one gallon of water. I’ve gotten sick a total of 3 times. You might not believe it but I used to get sick about twice about 5-6 times prior to increasing my water intake. Next year I’m shooting for never getting sick!

The most trying thing I’ve had to deal with health wise is my increasing sharp abdominal pain that happens daily. I’ve never mentioned it but who knows, there might be someone out there who needs to hear this. But if your stomach hurts every day, it’s not normal. Go get it checked out. Don’t let your doctor just say it’s acid reflux. Acid reflux isn’t the only diagnosis in the world. See a gastroenterologist. Thing is, I went to the hospital 3 times because of this incident and none of the original tests revealed anything. My doctor left my with no answers. I had to ASK for a specialist. Get the tests done. Don’t stop with an “I don’t know”. I did get answers though, and starting my journey to lower the inflammation experienced in my intestines. It’s frustrating and painful but I am glad I persevered. You are your biggest advocate when it comes to healthcare.

Creative

Since graduating with school in March, I wanted to invest more in my creative interests. I am so happy to see that DaibyDai received 3x as many views as in 2017. It’s a good sign, that with the same amount of blog posts my page still saw triple the amount of views. I also feel proud that I launched Curl Calendar last month. The year was almost over and I had almost run out of ideas as to how to get Curl Calendar ready for the next year. I thought I owed it to myself to not let another year pass with having all of my bright ideas stuck in a notebook, and so I went to work to make it come to life. I learned to just START. Not everything will be perfect the first time and I had to push myself to finally get an idea out there. I am really glad I did it and there’s no stopping now.

I’m still here. The new stages weren’t too fearful to bear. I made it another year and for that, I am thankful!

How was 2018 for you?

Happy New Year!