It’s time for, you guessed it, my look back on the year that was, right after it was that year, the one which was, which I will write about now, right here, with the next year already here.

*mind blown*

That was a very Kramer-esque opening sentence. Perhaps the rest of this post will be a little less zany, but if it isn’t then it’s fine. I’m quite zany and quirky and I have no problem with that fact. If there’s one thing I will never apologize for, it’s being different and unique. You probably don’t understand because you can’t. It’s OK. We agree not to judge one another.

The Good

First and foremost, there were a few really important friendships that grew for me in 2018. The importance of this is that these are friends who have varying personalities along with varying ages, not to mention disparate backgrounds, but they understand me just the same. They don’t repeatedly do things that irritate me and they aren’t oblivious to what works and what doesn’t work in our relationship. I think that’s key and I think it’s the reason that some relationships will simply never work.

I feel like things continued to improve at home in 2018. Like in 2017, there was a period of emotional struggles, but that’s to be expected for me. I’m not going to stop peering into my existence (our existence) without investigating every void and unanswered question, at least in my mind. I’m also not going to just blindly believe something and have a closed-off perspective on it all. My perspectives, as they have done for so long, will constantly change. I’m not going to judge someone else for believing something different or opposite of what I believe.

A deeper dive into MBTI and Enneagram went well. If you haven’t figured out by now, I’m an INFJ in MBTI terms and most likely a 4w5 (417) in Enneagram terms. I thought I was an Enneagram 2 for a while, but I related so strongly with 4s and had friends tell me constantly they were sure I was a 4. With most of that research and self-exploration behind me, I’m pretty sure I’m a 4 with a 5 wing and a tritype of 417. I’ll continue this deep dive in 2019.

Oh, and let’s not forget about two more fantasy football championships, bringing the total to eleven. I’m still trying to retire. Maybe this will be the year. It’s a love-hate relationship if there ever was one. I’m ready to walk away though.

There were a lot of changes at work, but all in all work was good if not challenging at times, so I’ll list work as a “good” thing.

The Bad

People. People are still bad. They are mean. They are ridiculous. I was reminded how bad and mean people can be in 2018 and how they think everyone else is on this Earth to serve them (wow, what a sad truth), yet many of them say they love God and people, but that’s the extent of it, it’s just a whisper. Their actions tell a different story, a sad story. I could go on and on, but I’ll save that topic for another day. Narcissism has never been more rambunctious and annoying. I think some people literally think they are the only people who matter on this God-forsaken planet. #WakeUp Also, stop texting and driving!

I didn’t finish all my projects because some of the projects I took on were too large and I was forced to abandon them. I did finish a few projects, but I’d prefer to finish all of my projects.

Also, health insurance is as irritating as it’s ever been. Even the “better” health insurance companies make head scratching decisions that make you wonder how the company hasn’t folded yet. I expect it to get worse as greed gets worse. Don’t worry. It will.

On Deck

I suppose it was a pretty dull year for the most part, but I grew in many areas and learned more about myself and others. So, with 2019 here already, I’ll continue (not start) working on the following things:

1. My health. I’ve dealt with acid reflux disease for many years now and I’ve found that NOTHING, I repeat NOTHING works as effectively in alleviating this stuff than healthy eating and exercise. In fact, I can make it completely go away with exercise and healthy eating. Wow, what a concept! Our body tells us it doesn’t want something. We stop giving that something to our body. Our body feels great and responds in a positive way. We feel great and don’t require medicine.
2. Work. I want to stay more focused at work. We’ve had a lot of changes and it can be really distracting, but there should be a lot of opportunity coming soon and I’m excited about it. It won’t arrive without a new set of challenges.
3. Self-Understanding. Creating boundaries, understanding why I need to say “no” in certain situations, understanding my motivations, watching the level of my “stress-cup”, spending enough time alone, spending enough time with the right people, etc, are just a few of the things I will continue to focus on in 2018.
4. Projects. I need projects. I need more than one project and I need to complete my projects. So, I’ll focus on picking the right projects, i.e. the ones which don’t cost too much time or effort, so that I am able to finish them and move on to other projects.
5. Justice. Free Steven Avery!