It’s the end of January, and I’m still reflecting on 2019. At this point, it seems like my new year will start on February 1st since I am still deciding what some of my goals for the year will be. Last year I decided to share some of the things I was most proud of myself for in 2018 and found it to be a great way to reflect on the following year while goal setting for the current one. 2018 definitely included more change than 2019, but even so, there are still some things that I am particularly grateful for from those 365 days. As a whole, 2019 was really good. More than anything, I started to feel settled, which leads me to be more comfortable in most situations and eventually take more risks. I wouldn’t say this was a “risky” year compared to 2018, but there was a lot of good that came out of it. I hope that none of this comes across like bragging, and I want to highly encourage you to look back at the past year and consider writing down some of the things you’re most proud of yourself for.
Running a Half Marathon
Running a half marathon was on my goal list for 2018, and I was pleased to be able to cross it off my list at the end of February. I was a runner in middle and high school and ran some in college but not the distance that I was previously able to do. When I moved to Birmingham, I realized that a lot of my friends had to study on Sundays and running gave me an excuse to explore the area while being active. After racking up some mileage, I decided that training for something would make it seem like all my time running added up to something. I signed up for the Seaside half marathon in January, and my parents made a vacation out of it, which made it especially fun. It would’ve been fun to do it with a friend, but I knew that if I had a good playlist, I’d be able to stick with it the same as I had with training. While my time was nothing to write home about, I completed it at the pace I had expected and felt so accomplished afterward!
Getting a Promotion
While I loved my last job, when a position as a stylist opened up at my company, I knew I wanted to apply. After getting to assist stylists on shoots through my old role, I saw just how much I’d like that type of position. The interview/audition process took a little while but was worth it in the end since now I am in the role and am getting to style shoots on my own. I still feel like I’m getting the hang of food styling, but over time I know I’ll start feeling more confident with my abilities.
Not Buying a Single Book
I realize this sounds like a very odd thing to be proud of, but after moving in 2018, I realized just how many books I owned. While I have read them all, most of them were ones that I wasn’t going to re-read. So, instead of purchasing books this past year, I committed to checking out books from the library and using the Libby app to listen to various books. I did buy a new book once January began since it was a daily devotional, but other than that, I plan to keep up with not purchasing new books since I can find most of what I want to read at the library!
Celebrating Well
This was a year of celebrating for sure. It’s easy to celebrate when so many friends are getting married, but even beyond that, there were plenty of smaller celebrations as well. From Kate, Sophia, and Gil’s weddings to birthdays, good grades, and promotions, it was a lot of fun! While celebrating doesn’t sound like something to necessarily be proud of, genuinely making people feel special during their big life moments is something I love to do. I hope this year is full of plenty of celebrations for friends so that this can carry into 2020.
Expanding My Circle
I am so lucky to have made such awesome friends since moving to Birmingham. I have always been more of a quality over quantity person when it comes to friends, and now, I feel like I have both since I have a large quantity of quality friends. From getting to know a whole other group to taking trips with my different circles expanding my circle has been a highlight of 2019, and I look forward to continuing to foster these friendships and make new ones this year.
Being Independent
I feel like I’ve been independent for a while, but this past year especially I feel as though I’ve truly embraced my independence. From handling things on my own without a phone call home to ask for advice first (except for the Christmas light fiasco, that was a whole other story) to be completely ok with doing my own thing I definitely feel like year after year I’m becoming more of my own person, and I’m pretty pleased with the who I’ve become.
I’d love to know which accomplishments from your past year that you’re most proud of!
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