April 5, 2014 - Written by: Becky Solomon

What A Difference A Year Makes

We go about our daily lives with the world buzzing around us; and yet, we often take for granted how much can happen in a single day. Sometimes, particularly on a working day, life can feel a bit repetitive.

‘Am I getting anywhere or just repeating the same day?’

Whenever this question enters my head, I am most certainly taking for granted life’s many unexpected happenings.

To put things into perspective, I like to think about how much has changed in a year.

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Maybe, to the outside, it might seem that things haven’t changed so much: I’m still living in the place where I have spent most of my life (but then you only need to read the BuzzFeed article to see why!); I still have many of the same friends that I’ve had since primary school; and I still do the same hobby that I’ve done since I was 14. But there have been some very significant changes that I have been overlooking – and I couldn’t possibly have predicted what they would be.

I read a lot of pessimistic status’ in early January, you know the ones: ‘so glad to wave goodbye to 2013’. I began thinking about it.

Even if it was a tough year, was it really entirely shit?

Even in my darkest moments (and as someone who does not say this lightly), I cannot confess to all round constant unhappiness. Life has been flecked with both positive and negative moments.

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You really don’t know what’s around the corner.

Think of the job you’re in. Did you know that was what you were going to be doing last year? I definitely didn’t. What about who you’re with? Or not with? You can’t always predict a break up, or who is waiting for you round the corner.

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Sometimes thinking about where you would like to be in a year’s time might help you make the decision to do something drastic and shake up your life. Every big decision I’ve made to do something big has been worth it. When I hear people say they wish they could just ‘go away and do this’ – I say, do it!!!

Think less, do more and your life could be unrecognisable in a year.

I started to list some highlights and lowlights from the past year to comfort myself on those down days; and to remind myself that you cannot possibly know what will happen. To me, that’s incredibly exciting.

By sharing my list, I hope to encourage you lovely readers to take a step back and reflect on the things you have achieved.

My list:

– 4 holidays/trips/weekends away (and 4 new countries visited)
– 1 old job gladly left, 1 new job secured
– 3 months of unemployment spent enjoying the glorious summer we had last year
– 1 relationship… and 1 break up
– 1 friend lost
– 2 new hobbies
– 1 realisation that I never want to work in retail again
– Many a drunken night out, some good ones, some… not so good.
– 1 new home
– 1 beautiful new addition to our friendship group (a friend’s baby)
– 100s of new faces, several new friendships and a few old ones rekindled

Why not have a go at creating your own list?

It could be as simple as finishing something you started a long time ago, or finally making that scary phone call, but it’s useful to pay ourselves the credit we deserve for making these things happen.

You achieved it, be proud of yourself.

The lowlights are equally important; never take for granted the time you have spent with someone, and remind yourself that, no matter how bad things seemed, you got through those tough times.

I can’t wait to discover what will make it to next year’s list!

If you enjoyed this article, why not check out ‘Defogging: The Power of the Pause’?