The Year In Review – A Personal Story Of Hope
Most people find change difficult. We have been forced to adapt this last year. A lot of the changes have seemed very difficult to deal with. Some people would say that 2020 has been a year of despair. However, I disagree.
The year 2020 has made us stronger in some ways. The leaders of tomorrow have been born from these events. They will go forward with new hope, and new dreams. They will have a strength uncommon of those before them, and they will be fit to lead having been tried by the fire so to speak.
My year has been both interesting, and difficult. I started with some projects in mind, and worked diligently to see them come to life. I learned a lot, and in the realms of self improvement, I have grown substantially.
This doesn’t mean my projects were all successes. I’ve had to change my mindset about a lot of the goals I originally had. I think that if you believe what Booker T. Washington said, “That success is not to be measured not so much by the position one has attained, but by the obstacles he has overcome.”
I’ve overcome some tough stuff this year. I’ve had to get really tough with myself. So much so, that to finish a hot shower with ice cold water is something I look forward to these days.
It seems my projects were interesting to me, I cared a lot about them. It was however difficult to make anyone else see the light of day with them. People only understand from their own view point, and most people lack the experience to understand it from anyone else’s point of view.
Maybe what I have tried to do, is open a window to showing someone the highlights of my experience without being so disruptive that others feel uncomfortable beyond what they can endure. I have tried to open the window, I have even sugar coated some of it for years. Yet, I find no one is really interested in looking out the window to see the world from my eyes.
John Lennon said in one of his songs, “No guru can see through your eyes.” Isn’t that the truth, we all have different experiences and views of life, the planet, and each other.
I’ve often expressed that it would be nice to know what people were thinking or feeling in some of these situations. Just to help understand the situation better.
My offer here is that you can see some glimpses of my life, that are in such a way, that you can have your eyes opened a bit to new understanding. I don’t promise that you will like it, all I can offer is the opportunity to share the view. You have to be the ones willing to open your eyes and look at it.
Of the things I’ve done this year, I’ve accomplished much. I launched five websites this year. However the ones that are still up and running seem to have survived the year 2020 just fine.
I wrote an algorithm, did an awful lot of database work, and while nothing really launched so fast to reach escape velocity, my feelings are they went well. How would a turtle ever get to outerspace single handedly? Pivot That!
My writing has improved a great deal, and I have logged a total of 1.2 million words written this year. My total write time is 14 days spent behind the keyboard journaling this year. I think my writing is getting better. I have worked on my authors voice a great deal. I find that listening to music helps make learning to write easier.
I launched three books this year, all self published. One of them I have had the experience of having professionally edited. That was interesting and a great expense. Maybe it will be worth it someday, I learned a lot about my writing in doing such.
I guess this has been the year of the iced coffee. Well that has been the last four years running. But this year was especially good as I have started drinking Nitro Cold Brew coffees for at least one of my drinks everyday. Life got better by the coffee index. Finally a cup of coffee strong enough.
I didn’t do as much photography as I would have liked this year, maybe that is one regret that will not haunt me for long. Maybe this next year I will be set to do a lot more photography. One can hope.
I did some video’s this year. I’m happy with that. I did try writing some scripts and making what I wrote. Maybe there will be some more of that soon.
This year, I also started making music again. After almost eight years of hiatus from making music, I’ve at least put some effort into trying it again. I’m not great, but learning.
This year I put a lot of trust into thinking that social media would be somewhere I could reach an audience. It seems a lot of people have been successful with it. Or at least, it looks like a lot of people have been successful with it. My efforts seem to have fallen flat on my butt. At least I can still look up right?
My mental health is doing better than its been in nineteen years. Which is a relief, because there were some years that were uncommonly tough. The year 2020 may have had some blessings somewhere.
Of note here, is some of the things I didn’t do this year. I have spent most of the year with being completely away from watching TV. Almost zero. It’s not my style to get my emotional needs met from the television. It’s not easy when emotional needs being met are in short supply, but that is my choice.
Also of note, I haven’t played a single video game all year. It’s not really my style. I would rather sit and think, meditate, and day dream of life to be had.
I did listen to music almost everyday 24/7 for the last year. There were a few days the power was out, but I’m not going to count those days as I had my iPhone to play tunes on.
In terms of self improvement, I did great. We should all be content to let that record stand for each of us. It wasn’t always easy, but it surely made us stronger.
Of what I learned this year, I couldn’t summarize it in a thousand words. There is however my blog, and my website that have some views that might be better from my eyes than yours. You never know until you open the window and look. Check them out.
Conclusion
If you have read this far, you get the nifty conclusion, a very brief explanation of what I learned this year.
1. Always finish that hot shower with cold water.
2. Always pick the hot knife over the hot mess.
3. Life is short, work your butt off.
Ctopher
Photo Credit: Ctopher Thomas