Hello 2020, here's to the new decade!

Happy New Year to you and your loved ones! I hope the first week of the new year has already been a pleasant start for you. I don’t believe in New Year Resolutions as I am a believer in the power of now. However, I do believe that a new year always brings about some inspiration and motivation to make some changes for the year ahead. I also usually reflect on the year that just passed and in this instance, I am so thrilled to say, “Hello 2020, here’s to the new decade!”

The past year and a half or so, was not my greatest. For those who have been following my blog or my social media profiles, you would have noticed that I was less active. There was just so much going on in my life that I had very little time for social media and quite honestly, I missed it! But I also made a decision to focus on the things that matter and on areas where I can actually make money. Nothing wrong with that, right?

Well, if you know me, you know that I always believe in #keepingitreal. So, I will confess that my life was pretty much unbalanced, no very unbalanced. As a Libra, we like to have balance in our lives and when we are off balance, we don’t always deal with it properly.

Career Change

After being in HR/Learning and Development for over 20 years of my life, I had an incidental change in my career last year. I moved to Sales. Something I didn’t imagine doing or thought that I was even capable of, but I was glad that circumstances (far less than pleasant) led to this change. All I can say is, I wish I had done this sooner! I am absolutely enjoying it!

With a new role comes new challenges. There are adjustments that need to be made, both at home and at the office. I am not sure how you have been when you had a new job or a new role – but you want to give it your all and and you exert yourself to prove that you can do it. This does come at a price though – the sacrifice of your time. This tips that Libra scale of mine off balance and other areas of my life takes the backseat.

Maintaining Balance

Whilst the financial rewards may leave you smiling, you have to take a step back and ask the following questions: (not just for a new job):

Am I spending enough time with my family – quality time (not being in the same room with each on electronic devices)
Am I taking care of myself? (Grooming, appearance)
Am I keeping in touch with family and friends?
Am I doing household chores and cooking?
Am I going the doctor for routine check ups? (Health)

I lost balance

That list can go on but to be quite honest, for most of the things on the list I haven’t done as much as I would have liked to. I was exhausted and emotionally drained – could even see it in the selfies I attempted, which were very few. I was constantly tired and didn’t have “enough time”. I sadly became that wife and mum that I never wanted to be, in many ways.

The year flew by so fast and before I knew it, it was already December. I got to a point where I felt like I was just sleeping at home and not actually living in it. I know I am being a little more harder on myself than I should, but I need to, and after all I’m always preaching about “living life and not merely being alive”.

There were many things that I wanted to do that I didn’t get to, most of them involved being a better mum and wife – doing quality things together. I’m not saying we never did anything – it’s just not the ideal amount that I would have preferred.

I will step up and shape up

So my intention this year is to make some changes and to improve my lifestyle. I do believe that there are a few things that need to change for me in order to improve the quality of our lifestyle. Hubby agrees too and we already started making significant changes.

As an example, we chose to be at home this festive season that passed, in order to do things around the house which were long overdue. Fixing stuff, if you really must know – it involved a few trips to our nearest Builders Warehouse!

Gosh, the worst part about being at home over the festive period is to have your helper also on leave at the same time, cos you don’t get to rest much! Dishes, laundry…etc. But she needs time with her family and so the next time we decide to be home over the festive season, we will get additional help from someone who has been unemployed – like we did in the last week of our leave, so it was a win-win for everyone.

It was not all doom and gloom

2019 was an eye-opener for me. I discovered a whole new world and environment/industry out there , which was oh so different compared to what I was used to. I met so many new people and I learnt so much. I pushed myself to do something I didn’t know I had in me and it was not easy. There were times I felt like just giving up but I didn’t. There were many extremely stressful times that brought me to tears, but I persevered.

Some things in life take time and some changes in life are not as easy to adapt to. But if you really want it and you give yourself and others some time, you can and will achieve whatever your heart desires.