Happy first Wellness Wednesday of 2019!
I’m a very goal oriented person and I also tend to dwell on the negative parts of my past a bit too much, so I normally like to use the first few days of a new year to clear some of the extra baggage from my life and to focus on what I want to achieve in the up coming year.
Before I jump straight into my ‘resolutions’ and what I want out of 2019, I like to reflect a bit on the year we just said good-bye too. I think it’s important that we remember all the good events that happened prior to making resolutions. If you are like me I can’t even remember what I ate for lunch yesterday, therefore remembering all my major milestones and accomplishments for an entire year is just not going to happen.
To help with this I went through and jotted down the most notable things for me each month and have condensed them below for you to review with me. By reflecting on the past year before I make my resolutions/goals for the new year, I’m helping to put myself in a good mindset which enables me to make responsible and achievable goals.
The other bonus is that even if you think you had a real shit year, if you reflect a bit you’ll normally find that you had a better year than you originally thought. And remember even the little wins in life (i.e. a minute off your half marathon time or just spending more time with the people you love) are important to being mentally healthy.
2018 in Review
January – I started my 2018 at Disney World with the entire Speakmon clan, including both my sisters and my two nieces. Getting everyone in one place is crazy hard plus we all surprised my dad, which made it even more special! I also did a bunch of running in the cold, took a baking class, & PASSED MY PMP EXAM! #killingit. Which I totally forgot I did in 2018, and is a reminder of why it’s good to review your year.
February- I spent 20 days out of 28 traveling for work. I spend a week in Atlanta, a week in Orlando, and a week in Long Island, NY. I also spent a weekend near Dallas celebrating Nikolaus’ nieces’ 2nd birthday and a weekend celebrating one of my best friend’s bachelorette parties! It was a very tiring month.
March – I ran my second half marathon (Alamo 13.1) with one of my oldest friends, hosted a bridal shower for one of my best friends, and celebrate another best friends’ birthday with the first of many lake days!
April – I did some more work travel spending a week up in Columbus, Ohio. Stopped by to see my sister in Cincinnati while I was up there. I also attended a Gala for my high school with my high school best friends and celebrated one of my best friends marrying her dream man.
May – Went back up to Cincinnati to run the Flying Pig Half Marathon making a new PR of 2 hours and 33 mins and saw my oldest niece graduate with her Associates degree. Spent some more time traveling for work by spending another week in Orlando, Florida. Celebrated Mother’s Day with my mom and abuelita. Saw The Dave Matthew’s Band for the 3rd time in Dallas. Spent countless afternoons by the pool and celebrated Memorial Day with America’s favorite pastime (baseball).
June – Fell sick the day before leaving on a family trip to Cancun but still had a blast. More pool days, because summer! Flew to Appleton, WI to visit with my cousin who took me to wineries, the river, and Lambeau Field.
July – Spent some more time traveling for work by spending a week in Atlanta. Also made it up to visit a friend in Minneapolis and spent a week at the lake in Iowa for the 4th of July with Nikolaus’ family.
August – I picked my first watermelon from my garden! Which is a small accomplishment but means a lot to me. Finally sat down and started to work on writing again and founded Speaking Of…! Spent some more time traveling for work and sat two rows behind Spurs’ head coach Pop on my way back from New York! The most exciting news though was my dad officially received news that his cancer was non-active after
3.5 years of treatment! Honestly, that is the biggest win of the year and one of my favorite memories.
September – September birthday central for my family and me and is always an extremely busy month. To help relax a bit I had a spa day with my dad to celebrate our birthdays. Celebrated my 27th year of life with all my favorite people. Surprised Nikolaus with Kansas City Chiefs tickets at Arrowhead stadium for his birthday! Even though this wasn’t for me it still makes me happy because he was so excited. And added a new member to the September family, Blue! Isn’t he handsome!
October – Besides February, October was by far my busiest month of 2018. Just thinking about October makes me exhausted. I spent October on the road with both work travel and personal travel. We flew up to Kansas City where we watched the Chiefs win (Yay!) in the pour rain (not so yay). Spent a week in Columbus Ohio for work and then went dow to Cincinnati to run the Queen Bee Half Marathon in 40 degree weather; and making a new PR of 2 hours and 31 minutes all while suffering from a very bad cold. Spent a few days in Denver with two of my closest friends. Forgot my passport and had to fly back to San Antonio in order to make it to Montreal in time for some work presentations. Spent a week in freezing and windy Montreal for work. Drank all the wine in Fredericksburg, read a ton of books on all my flights, and entered November exhausted.
November – Spent another week in Orlando for work. Celebrated Wurstfest, my sister’s birthday, and an amazing wedding of some great friends. Ate my weight in mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving, ran a whole bunch, and started working on a podcast with my best friend (The Happiest of Hours Podcast coming January 7th).
December – Cedar Fever hit me hard this month but I still managed to run the Rock n’ Roll San Antonio Half Marathon with my running partner. My knee locked up at mile 12 so I missed my goal but I still finished the race (small wins). Read some great books, cheered on my Spurs multiple times, and dyed my hair for the second time in my life. Visited the Silos in Waco, did all the Christmas things, and was able to dedicate time to writing.
2017 was a rough year for my physically and mentally and my biggest goal for 2018 was to have a more positive mindset. I think I exceeded my goal and even though 2018 had a number of obstacles, just remembering to stay positive helped me to persevere through the darkness and lift my spirits. All in all it was a pretty great year except looking back apparently I was sick a whole bunch, I even have slight cold as I’m writing this post, aye. I’m choosing to not remember being sick though and instead focus on the fact that I have a pretty wonderful life especially with an amazing family and friends who support me and who bring me back to reality on my dark days.
Now that I have taken the time to reflect on this past year, I feel more prepared and ready to start setting some 2019 goals, because like a fine wine I’m only getting better with time.
How was your 2018?
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