Goodbye 2018

This is my last post for the year. This year was the lowest in 10 years for blog posts and books written. I felt somewhat compelled to say something about 2018 to close it out.

I’m so ready to be done with it.

2018 was a year of….not a whole lot. So don’t expect too much from me about my accomplishments of 2018. If you’re looking for something exciting and inspiring, you’re in the wrong place.

This time last year, for the first time I can remember, I didn’t set goals. I went into 2018 feeling overwhelmed and stressed. I felt setting goals were going to make it worse by putting even more pressure on me.

Since I didn’t set goals, I can’t say for certain if it would have made things worse, but I can tell you it didn’t make things any better. After having the most non-productive year ever I think not setting goals was much worse than the stress setting goals might have been.

At least I learned when I don’t set goals I don’t accomplish anything, and that lack of accomplishment makes me feel horrible.

I ended the year feeling just as overwhelmed and stressed as when I started. Which doesn’t make me happy but it’s over now, and I need to move on.

Though as much as I want to whine and have a pity party about not making any movement forward, there were highlights to the year. I need to remind myself of what is GREAT about 2018.

I launched Writing Warriors Collective my author education site, splitting it away from my lifestyle/author blog. Then in September I gave my lifestyle/author blog a facelift and created more of a focus for the lifestyle aspect of living your most fabulous midlife.

Why you ask?

Back in February, I read Life Reimagined: The Science, Art, and Opportunity of Midlife and it inspired me to delve further into this stage of life I’m in right now.

I’ve struggled the last few years with who I am, and it’s been very unsettling. I used to have a lot of who I was wrapped up in what I did (which I don’t recommend). As my goals professionally changed I had to change. It’s not a bad thing but different. Then add my age, my kids getting older, a second marriage, and thinking more about retirement than what bar I wanted to go to on Saturday really started to impact me. To the point of fear sometimes. It would cause me sleeplessness (sometimes still does).

As I researched the term midlife (not attached to crisis) more and more, it resonated with me. I realized that I needed to embrace this stage of my life, so I didn’t fear it as much. So you’ll be seeing a lot of this topic in 2019.

What else did I do?

I was a chaperone for Sydney’s cheer camp in July. Chaperoning is not my thing. I’m usually the parent who pays the extra fee to get out of chaperoning. However, it was important to her, and in a weak moment, I said I’d do it. And then stressed over it for weeks. I’m just not THAT parent. The nice, fun, crafty, knows all the best snacks parent.

I ended up surprising myself with how awesome I was. Not compared to the other chaperone who was totally a 10 but I was a solid 4, and I’d expected to be more of a 2. The Nutella snack packs were a hit and gained me some chaperone cred.

Will I do it next year? Sydney is already asking, but I’m not so sure. I don’t want to push my luck. I prefer to end on a high.

In August I went to Portugal with my friend Kathy to join a trip my friend Helene, from Helene in Between, was leading and I had the most amazing time. I met so many fantastic women. The trip was marred a little by some family drama back home, of course, it had to happen while I was in another country, but I still had an amazing time. The country was beautiful, the people I was with were beyond my wildest expectation of what being thrown together with strangers would be, and I came away with great memories.

Then right after Thanksgiving, I had cataract surgery. While they were at it, they put in an interocular lens to take my horrible very nearsighted vision to perfect. I’d been looking forward to this surgery for months, but it was a lot rougher than I’d imagined. I’m still having issues which I’ll be discussing more in depth in a post within the next couple weeks. So I’m currently on the fence if this was a positive or negative. I’m hoping I just need to give it a little more time.

While these above-mentioned highlights of 2018 weren’t goals, they were things I am truly grateful for.

At the end of the day or year, as it is, I am undeniably blessed in life. Life’s not perfect, but I certainly can’t complain (even though I do). I have everything I need and more.

I wish you a wonderful and Happy New Year!