Hello and happy Monday friends! Today is my first day back to work in two weeks and I am struggling. It was so nice to take some much needed time off work, but it's always so difficult to go back to work after a long break. Today I thought I would share some of the lessons I learned in 2021. Last week I did a post with all of my favorite photos from 2021 which highlighted a lot of great things that happened last year. Today's post will be a compilation of all the things I learned while we were going through the entirety of 2021. So here are the five things I learned in 2021.
1. Grace is of utmost importance. 2021 brought with it a lot of things that required me to offer grace to myself and others. It seems like the year brought out the worst in a lot of people which made it hard to be loving and kind at times. When I found myself frustrated with family, friends or myself, I would try to step back and remind myself that I don't know the whole picture and it's important I give them grace and understanding. When I was feeling particularly disappointed in myself, I would step back and remind myself that perfection is not the goal, the goal is forward motion. Giving grace to others also allowed my to give grace and patience to myself.
2. It's okay to not be okay. I learned a few months ago at my session with my counselor that counseling/psychologists/psychiatrists are one of the most demanded professions right now. This is because so many people are simply not okay and have not been throughout the pandemic. This one was hard for me in 2021, but it all came to a head in September when I had such a bad panic attack I had to go to urgent care because I was afraid something was wrong with my heart. I had been denying so long that I was not okay that my body manifested the biggest warning sign it could. I'm happy to report that I've gotten the proper help I needed and I'm starting 2022 in a much better head space. And I've accepted that it is okay to not be okay.
3. Less clutter = clearer headspace. Over the last year I have been working to remove clutter from my life. This looks like reducing my stuff down to only what I need versus keeping things just because I can (this even goes so far as to unsubscribing from companies from which I no longer need to receive emails). There is nothing more frustrating to me than when I go to look for something and I cannot find it because everything is a mess. Having a space that is more organized and less cluttered has allowed me to really free my mind up for other activities that bring me joy. I'm not 100% done with everything, but we've got plans to get it finished next year and I'm excited.
4. Your health, your wellbeing and your loved ones come above all else. Kevin Liu said this best in his 21 Life Lessons I learned for 2021 post. 2021 has made me greatly realize the importance of reminding my friends and family how much I love them. I know I talked about it before, but my mom was hospitalized with COVID in January and my friend lost her mother in May. These two events made me realize how very much I take my mom's presence for granted. It has forced me really focus on those that my life would be forever changed if I didn't have them anymore.
5. Actions speak louder than words. This is such a cliché saying, but for me this year has really shown me that actions really do speak louder than words. When we were going through the unimaginable of losing a pregnancy, how people responded showed me who I could really lean on when I was going through something big. That's not to say that the people who didn't show up how I needed them to "failed", it just showed me that when push comes to shove I know who I want in my corner when I'm going through something difficult, and who would be better off loving from afar during a difficult time.
Those are the five big things I learned in 2021. I hope you enjoyed reading this post. I am going to be back tomorrow with a Tuesday Things post so be sure to stop by!
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