It’s the end of the year, and even though we’re still a few days away from ushering it out, 2022 (a new year) is upon us. So, for Tuesday’s edition of #JustUs, my girls and I went down memory lane to look at how the year has been so far.
The year 2021 has been a complicated one for a lot of people – traumatising for some, even – but we’ve still managed to find slivers of hope and specks of happiness here and there.
So we took a glimpse at the year 2021, as we have each experienced it. We are taking stock, reflecting, and sharing our lessons. And then we’ll set intentions for the new year.
1. Be relentless/Don’t give up
On the days you’re most physically and emotionally overwhelmed, consumed by doubt, anxiety and uncertainty about the future, your relentlessness is what will carry you through.
Few things in life are accomplished without challenges and, sometimes, the only way to get through it is by doing, by pushing, by fighting through the odds, by not giving up on yourself or on the course.
Keep going. You’re a rock, and you’ve got this!
2. You deserve softness
Resilience is a good thing but it’s not the only catalyst for your growth. Life tends to get difficult whether you’re dealing with school, work or life in general.
You deserve softness even when your spirit wants to push you through the hard, difficult things. There’s no need to be harsh on yourself or give guilt permanence when things don’t turn out as planned. Treat yourself to an ice cream, go to the beach or buy your favourite shade of lipstick.
Exercise patience with yourself – you, too, deserve softness even at your hardest.
3. You can figure anything out – with God and Google by your side!
There is nothing you cannot figure out – with God and Google by your side, and sometimes Bolt Food!
Others have walked your path and have experienced the same things. There are times when all you need to do is ask questions. A lot of them!
Questions lead to awesome discoveries. As the English journalist, short story writer, poet, and novelist Rudyard Kipling wrote,
I keep six honest serving men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
Questions are your workmen and soldiers that will lead you to victories and progress.
4. Count your blessings
It may seem like a mere song but try it! Actually count your blessings and see what the Lord has done.
We are naturally inclined to write the year off because one or two things didn’t go as planned, but practising gratitude brings us to the sobering realisation that things are not as bad as we may make it out.
Tip: Keep a gratitude journal or a jar where you write down the things that God has done for you – the answered prayers – from the most basic things, like what to wear or eat, to the big things like career or finances, and then take stock. You’ll be happy to know that God has indeed been wonderful to you.
5. Go to the beach and dance
There’s a line in Lee Ann Womack’s “I Hope You Dance” that goes: “I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean.” And you should actually try it!
You think your life is hard until you stand beside the ocean, in all its magnitude, and then you realise that you are just a minute thing, and that this world, and this life, are bigger than you and your “little problems”.
This little experiment will give you some perspective on how small the things that bother you are. That your problems are not that big. And even when you feel like it’s too hard, you are allowed to take a break from it all, or several breaks, once in every while.
So go to the beach, stand beside the ocean, take deep breaths and dance!
Merry Christmas to you and yours. May the New Year bring you good tidings!
Naa Ashorkor
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