2021 Roundup | Did This Year Suck?

For a while now I’ve been trying to find the words to describe how this year 2021 has been for me. As we read this blog together, not only will it make sense to you but it will also make sense to me LOL.

2021 was the year I turned 30.

I am doing well with myself, so I honestly did not have an expectation for 2021. Simultaneously, I did not expect nearly half of the things this year has brought into my life. I do a pretty decent job of hiding my troubles, so a lot of people don’t know whether I’m struggling until I say something.

My job has been a bit demanding to say the least.

Now I know a lot of people will probably be like, “Well everybody’s job is demanding,” which yeah get it …but I’m not talking about anybody but me lol.

Why is it difficult for me? Well, this pandemic came with more challenges as it relates to the education of our future leaders. In terms of our current curriculum, there is a lot of unfinished learning among our students. No one really knows a plan of action to solve the unfinished learning crisis, so in the meantime, we have to still teach. That’s not to say that there wasn’t any, to begin with, but this pandemic has made it astronomically larger. Now we’re in the 2021 – 2022 school year and in comes a whole new brand of struggles: the Tik-Tok era, a lot of in-class distractions, students making the decision of following negative Tik-Tok trends, home life may be worse than before, built up frustrations with other classmates, students disrupting school, students being just as exhausted as we adults are, etc. When you put all that together you have burnt out teachers exhausted and frustrated doing what we normally would do pre-pandemic.

Anxiety.

Y’all, I have never experienced so much anxiety until this pandemic has started. All I wanted to do was stay in my own little bubble at home, but I told myself that I wanted to tackle my anxiety because I told myself I wanted to tackle it. I told myself that this would be the last year that I experience this much anxiety. Boy oh boy, there came a brand new set of struggles after making that declaration!

The Struggles of Being an Adult.

Although I didn’t have any expectations for this first year in my 30s, I did not expect nearly half of the things that I’ve been through LOL. That includes financial struggles, dating life, my career, loneliness, tackling mental health, juggling church and personal life, canceled plans, and feeling like my 30s should not be starting like this. But I guess that’s adulting, right?

So I wouldn’t blame you if you thought my 2021 definitely sucked after reading all of this…

….and you would want to throw this WHOLE year away. I’m not going to lie, I would feel the same way too and a part of me does! A lot of tears have flowed this year, disappointments too. However, there were a lot of lessons and reminders this year.

1. Never dismiss the good things that are happening or has happened this year. Hold tight to those good momen4ts instead of focusing so much on the bad. It’s kind of like the glass half-full versus the glass half-empty. Eventually The One who’s pouring into your glass will fill it up again. You just have to be patient… a hard concept. Trust me. I know!
2. I could be going through the toughest challenges of my life and I choose not to quit. There were a lot of moments that anyone could have quit, but I chose not to because that is not embedded in my DNA.
3. Grieve your losses. The loss of a loved one, a friendship, a relationship, canceled plans, or life isn’t being what it used to be. It’s okay to grieve the loss and stay as long as you need to… just don’t stay there.
4. God communicates with you in your dreams. God communicated with me in my dreams a lot this year, and it wasn’t until later on in the year that I started to pay more attention. However, I also think that the devil can do the same thing, so be careful.
5. My empathy frequency is very high. I feel people’s pain as if it’s my own.
6. You can’t vent to everybody everybody about your struggles, especially if you’re not looking for a solution. Be very picky about who you talk to and that you give the expectation that all you want is just to vent, not necessarily to look for a solution. Most importantly ask people first!

Since I’m talking about some of the things I’ve learned, I would be remiss if I do not discuss some of the great things that have happened this year!

Turning 30 and experiencing a brand new decade, closing one chapter in your life, and embarking on a brand new chapter in your life. Although the pandemic has robbed many opportunities for me to have a party, I still had a great birthday nonetheless and spend time with family and friends being loved. I accepted all types of love on my birthday! I can truly say this was one of the best birthdays that I’ve had as an adult.

I also had a goal of leaving the country for the first time. I still got to travel and experience places other than my current residence. Not only did I experience going to Las Vegas with my mom and my sisters, but I also stepped out of my comfort zone once again and did another solo trip! This time it was to Miami, Florida. Better yet, it felt like one of the best Summers ever!

I started therapy which was the best decision I’ve ever made. Enough said.

I started my loc journey after being relaxer-free (or natural) for 7 years! I’m excited about doing something different with my hair, and I look forward to seeing what my hair looks like at the end of 2022.

Well, what’s next for me in 2022?

Well, as usual, I do have some goals that I would like to accomplish.

1. My Spiritual Journey, or what I like to call “God and Me,” is the normal study and pray daily.
2. My Personal Life (outside of my job and church), I’d like to try cooking a new dish once a month – a dish that I’ve never tried before, or maybe something that I’ve been wanting to try but I’ve put off for such a long time. I would love to plan another trip. The hope was that I can plan an out-of-the-country trip, but because there’s a new Omicron variant, along with the Delta variant, flu season, and the regular degular shmegular covid… I’m not 100% certain on when that would actually happen. I’ll even take another vacation within the United States. I hope to finish anything that I started and have not finished yet. I also want to pick back up my guitar. I haven’t played in quite some time now, so my hope is that I can pick that back up this coming year.
3. My career, I hope to update my resume and always remain positive. (FYI, please do not read too much into it. I simply just want to update my resume because I haven’t seen it in quite some time, and it doesn’t hurt to do so. That does not mean I’m going to quit my job lol.)
4. My financial goals, my two main goals would be student loan forgiveness and paying off my car.
5. My health and wellness, of course the usual adult stuff *insert eye roll here* like drinking plenty of water, eating my fruits and vegetables, doing something active for 30 minutes daily, making an appointment with all the doctors, continuing going to therapy, taking my vitamins… you know… stuff like that.
6. My business, Neatly Tangled Yarn, just continue to thrive and make more sales than I have before and always be open to learning something new. I do have an Etsy shop. Not much is on it, but stay tuned 😉

I’m sure there will be more things that pop up in the coming year but I think those are a good start!

If I was to tell the years 2021 and 2022 something, what would I say?

“Well, 2021, you sucked buddy, but I can’t say you suck too bad. You weren’t that bad but you weren’t that good either!” LOL. I would just leave it at that. I have a love-hate feel about 2021.

Now, what would I say to the year 2022? Well, if I was honest, I would say, “Well, 2022, you need to sit down, don’t touch anything, and just sit there quietly. Just smile and say, ‘hey.'” But what I would really say is, “I’m looking forward to seeing what you have to bring.” I know it sounds weird and you may be a bit timid in that thought process, but honestly, that’s what I would say. I would tell 2022 that I look looking forward to what it has to offer and I’m ready to close this chapter of 2021.

What about you? What are your thoughts on 2021? I’d love to know!