Reflecting On 2014

Looking back on 2014, I’ve decided that it was the year of personal growth for me. I experienced some of the most incredible highs this year. AJALI won an award! I still cannot believe that. I travelled to three countries that I’d never been to and I was able to finally achieve my lifelong dream of visiting Asia. I completely changed my career path and I couldn’t be any happier as the Assistant Editor at TW Magazine. This year I came into my own and learned who I am as a person. I acknowledged the importance of living your life for God for myself. I learned the meaning of true loyalty, friendship and love. I learned what makes me happy. I am excited about my life.

While change is good, and in my situation I believe all that changed for me was positive, it was still very daunting. My personal life, my career, my faith, demand for my companies all took a drastic turn in the last third of 2014 and I was overwhelmed. My to-do lists were never completed and it left me feeling unaccomplished and like I was constantly letting myself and other people down. Which led to me to not want to do anything and this only worsened the situation.  I spent the past 2 weeks of 2014 taking an unplanned break from all my responsibilties and just reflecting on my life. I don’t want to spend my days feeling like I’m ticking off a Things-To-Do list. I needed to reassess what I spent my days doing and the value it added to my life. Because one thing we’ve all learnt this year (with all the tragedy and loss) is that life is short.

I critically assessed my life and removed things that do not add significant reward (financially, spiritually and emotionally) to my life. And I have decided what I want to keep in my life needs to be planned so I can get the most out of each day. I can’t expect to write a blog post, produce AJALI products, respond to enquires, ship off orders, talk to my friends and go to work in one day – I am not superwoman! I need to be more pragmatic and prioritize time for myself in every single day. And I am looking forward to enjoying a more balanced, well-rounded and hopefully organized life in 2014!

Here are my resolutions!

• Spiritual & Mental Growth – My mind operates at 100mph. I’m constantly thinking of everything I need to do and working myself up. This year I want to give myself at least one hour every morning and evening before bed of Me Time. To just unwind and do things I enjoy for myself. I can spend this time doing anything from writing in a journal, praying, working out, cooking or reading a book.But it has to be something I want to do and something that makes me happy.
• My Healthy Kick 2.0 – I did pretty good last year (applause please lol). But I am proud of the fact that I lost 7kg lost year and kept it off by eating better and exercising more. I want to keep this up and this year I want to become more lean and see definition.
• Save – I resolved to save more money last year but unfortunately this never happened. But this year I’m definitely more serious about it. I’m getting older and I have more responsibilities. Living from paycheck to paycheck isn’t cute!

I’m going to update you on my progress and go into more detail on these things as the year progresses. But all in all, I thank you for supporting me by reading this blog. Please keep doing so and sharing with your friends. I had an incredible year and I am so grateful to be alive, healthy and happy.  I pray that 2015 is even better for us all! What are your resolutions?