2022 Recap: The Year of Transformation

For the past few years, I’ve felt compelled to write a year-end Letter to Dad. The goal was to energetically update my dad on what has happened in my life since he left his physical body in 2019. I no longer feel compelled to do that as I have in the past. That is not because I no longer miss him but because I am now the center of my existence, not another person. That was due to how transformative this year has been for me. 

Although I didn’t know it starting in 2022 was the beginning of the transformation of my life. If I had to use a few phrases to sum up my year, they would be as follows:

BOUNDARIES

Before 2022 I never thought much about boundaries and the importance of having strength in this area. 2021 – 2022 was the “F*k Around and F*nd Out” year. Because baby, when I tell you, I learned the lesson of the century all year. Ya’ girl was getting blasted with the amount of foolishness I was letting slide. 

Starting at the 1st quarter of the year, that was over. I started getting rid of people and situations. I kept that same energy throughout the year. I will continue to do so for the rest of my life. 

CONNECTIONS

A key part of strengthening my boundaries involved looking at the people in my small circle of loved ones. One of my goals since my father passed was to build stronger connections with my friend group. So, overall, I think that was very successful. While in the process, I realized that although I had gone to therapy to work on myself, others had not. 

Upon realizing how the brokenness of others was impacting me, I knew I had to walk away from some folks. My takeaway was even though some people are essential to your life, not all are supposed to be part of your journey. Some people are placed in your life to teach you something and for you to help them learn. Some relationships are seasonal, and that’s OK. You hinder your blessing by holding on to some people too long. This year demonstrated that fact. My year would have been so different had I not let some people go. 

Going into 2023, I will be armed with everything I learned in 2022. Those lessons will be invaluable on the next leg of my lifes journey. I am looking forward to continuing to learn and grow. More importantly, I am excited to expand my circles and meet more like-minded folks in 2023 and beyond. 

SELF-AWARENESS

I always considered myself to be in tune with who I am. After last year, I think I had an over-inflated view of my level of self-awareness. I think that was because I was very unaware that I needed to strengthen my boundaries and that I needed to exercise some discernement about the types of people I should be willing to invite into my life. I don’t believe I purposely brought in bad people, but more like I allowed people that were not necessarily good FOR ME. 2022 made me look at people for who they were in their entirety. I didn’t just look at who they were as people at that moment, but I looked at the choices they made throughout their lives, which resulted in who they were presently. 

2022 made me look at my willingness to accept people below the standards I would find acceptable for myself. If the behavior is not good for me to participate in, it is not good behavior for me to accept from those in my close inner circles. That’s especially the case for a love interest. That forced me to dig deep and fix the things about myself that thought it was fine to accept such things. WHEW, that was a lesson. 

CAREER

I started the year with a career move that truly stretched me and shoved me headfirst out of my comfort zone. The beginning of the year stressed me in a way a job never had previously. I recognized my personal life was a shitshow due to my not exerting my boundaries, and I had to pivot. The career change forced me to look at this, and I realized I had to make a hard choice. I knew I couldn’t deal with multiple aspects of my life changing at once and being a shitshow. I was able to embrace the change of the new position, and it turned out that this change was a great career move because it put me into an area that will continue to grow in that industry. So, the career outlook in this growing field seems positive and profitable for the future.  

HEALTH

As a GenXer, your body betrays you daily. You wake up, and that’s enough for your skeletal system to choose violence against you. I might look good for my age, but my knees feel Crypt Keeper years old. 

I am always striving to eat better and move more. I do well with the eating part because I’ve been at it since my teens. This year I gave up gluten, and that was a game changer. I also started an Apple Cider Vinegar detox which has been amazing. I additionally added more supplements and vitamins to my diet. Although I’ve done quite a bit, the moving more part is a continuous challenge for me, but I improved quite a bit this year. In 2023, I will continue to work on being the healthiest version of myself, so I can keep feeling great. 

TRAVEL

From 2021 to 2022, I had an opportunity to travel quite a bit. I went to Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Key West, London, Atlanta, and Miami. I am continuously adding more places to my travel bucket list. So, I am looking forward to doing much more traveling in 2023. 

TRANSFORMATION

2022 was a year of total and complete metamorphosis in the best possible way. In 2022, I moved to a new house, started a new career path, released unsuitable connections, traveled, had a spiritual awakening, and realized a business dream. It was truly the most amazing and rewarding year I’ve ever had. I am more excited about the future than I’ve ever been in the past. 

LIFE

When my dad passed, he said he felt as if he had run out of time. That left such a lasting impression on me. I vowed to do all the THINGS and squeeze every ounce of joy from life. 2022 was just the start of that, and I plan to keep up that energy. 

Here’s to an awesome New Year. I can’t wait to write about all the goals I accomplished in 2023. Happy New Year! 

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