Dear 2022,
The year 2022. I wish I could lie to you and say that 2022 was a spectacular year. The truth is 2022 wasn’t all that dashing. Yes, there were beautiful parts of 2022, but there were some very difficult patches. With all the ups and downs I wanted to tell you a little story.
Life isn’t easy. Anyone who says life is easy obviously hasn’t been around for quite long. As we grow older, our mindset shifts; with that mindset comes a learning curve and maturation. With maturation, we begin to have new and different mindsets. A mindset that is more focused and with that: a clearer view of the world. When 2022 began, I was a hopeful individual. ( Much like every year) I had so many goals and so many hopes. Yet, as 2022 progressed all my plans seemed to dissipate. You can imagine, that I soon became frustrated and perhaps a little angry. I had fallen short of my goals and was disappointed in myself in the end. I have a habit of wanting everything to be perfect and to be in place. But, the truth is life isn’t like that. We can’t perfect everything. We can’t perfect ourselves. Heck, the word perfect shouldn’t even exist. As the years have gone by, there has been a mindset shift. This mindset shift has been one of the most difficult aspects. The mindset shift has been something that a few years back wouldn’t seem to have been a part of my life. In the center of this shift lies the word: acceptance. This word has carried me through the majority of 2022. Acceptance in imperfection, acceptance in failure, acceptance in my flaws. To be frank, this hasn’t been easy and has been a journey with ups and downs. But, as we wrap up 2022 and head into 2023 I like to think that I have bettered myself with acceptance. We cannot be perfect. We were not set on this earth to be perfect. Instead, we were set on this earth, to be better versions of ourselves. To be a better individual is not easy, but it is achievable. When we leave this earth, we should leave a trail of BETTER.
I realize as I have grown older that there is a reason that I am present on this earth. I still am searching for the greater meaning for that reason. But, I have grown to realize that perhaps it is to be a better version of myself. Maybe, instead of hyper-focusing on my wrongdoings of myself, instead, I should focus on the good that I can do for others. Yes, there are things that I still need to improve upon. I still need to work on myself, but I also need to learn to ACCEPT.
So, 2022, thank you dearly for opening my eyes. Thank you for broadening my scope of life. I am glad you are a part of my life and you have shown me more than I will ever really realize. To be honest, I won’t miss you, but I do realize you were necessary for my journey.