5 Lessons Learned in 2021

I can’t believe it’s already 2022! I feel like I'm still recovering from 2020. I know we are all tired of hearing the phrase “New year, new me.” Everyone puts so much pressure on resolutions when it really isn’t necessary. For me, I chose to reflect on the past year and look forward to what the new year may bring without the idea of a promise. Honestly, the past two years have been challenging, rewarding and eye-opening. Here are the things that I've learned in the year 2021:

Try not to be absorb in others problems

This has been a big lesson for me in 2021. I have found myself too many times in negative situations that would simply consume me. After dealing with certain people I would feel so drained. I then would go on became the go to person for everyone’s problems. I would find myself thinking about the situation too often which would take time away from my day. I would almost take on their problems while losing track of progress in my own life. So I had to set a boundary and limit how much help I can give to others. I have learned to not allow myself to be overwhelmed with people's problems. It's their problem and they will figure it out. Especially when you are helping others that aren’t willing to help themselves but hey that's another topic.

Let situations go

In order to help find my own peace I had to let go of situations that I cannot change. After our wedding in 2020, we’ve had fallouts with many family members. People I expected to have been there for us have let us down in ways that may not be repairable. To the point that I'm not even in contact with those people anymore. Although it hurts, there isn’t anything that I can do to change the situation. Now, I am no longer stressing about the “why’s”. I mean I used to spend hours thinking about how the situation played out and how things could have been different. Can you imagine how exhausting that can be? I’ve shed tears about it, often feeling like I didn’t deserve to be treated that way. Questioning myself as if something was wrong with me. So after a while I just came to a point where I was just over it. It happened and it's time to move forward and let it go!

Mental health over anything else!

After dealing with anxiety for many years. This year I've decided to take a deeper look at those in my life and whether they were helping to fill my mental health “cup" or not. I would notice after dealing with certain people that I would have increased anxiety following the next day or so and could never pinpoint why it was happening. So it simply came down to the question of “Are they helping to fill my “cup” or contributing to the spillage of it. If the person is contributing to the spillage of my mental health “cup” then it’s time to go. Even if that means just limiting my exposure to others that haven’t been of benefit mentally. I’ve learned that you have to put yourself first and surround yourself around people that are adding positivity to your life.

Bad days are okay

When I'm having a day of high anxiety, oftentimes I beat myself up about it. Feeling like how could I possibly have this level of anxiety at this point in time when I've made so much progress. I sometimes feel like it’s a setback but now when I have those moments I've learned to stop and remind myself that it's okay to have bad days. Bad days don't necessarily mean a setback, instead I've learned to try to focus on the good days. There's always tomorrow and granted I still struggle with this from time to time but that's a part of life, we're always learning.

Believe in yourself

I've learned that it's important to believe in yourself even in the days when I didn't feel as confident in myself. A Lot of times we are more capable than we believe and in a sense become our own worst enemy. Just imagine if we wore that hat of confidence from the beginning how unstoppable we all could be. For example, While in school working on finishing my degree, I would tell myself that I can't get through a course or an assignment. I would fill my head with doubt about accomplishing those things and then I would surprisingly get through everything just fine. I’ve learned the importance of believing in yourself.

Over the past year, I have learned many things but the biggest lesson I take with me is to focus on myself. I hope that whether you relate to these lessons or not, you take the time to focus on yourself. Although that may look different for all of us, it is very important to put your mental health first. I look forward to what the year 2022 will bring. Stay tuned!

Follow me on Instagram to see more! @glambyaizhaz