#2015

I’ve never been keen on the so-called new year’s resolution thing. However, I can’t help but pondering over the year ahead during the first weeks of January. One has to do it at some point, evaluating his or her life and for some odd reason a new year contributes to this. I guess it might also have to do with the fact that January is my birthday month and birthdays generally get me thinking.





Maybe it’s because I had Christmas holidays or just because a new year feels like a fresh start, but I always seem more focused and energized around this time of year as well. This year even more so than other years.Last year was all about change for me, both professional and personal. I don’t think anyone around me noticed this, but I did. I set new goals and tried to get rid of some of my long-life insecurities. I went out and made new friends, rekindled old friendships and put some of my friendships behind me (indefinitely).Focusing on this mental change led to the fact that I for once started my own business by the end of the year. My husband had brought this up now and then, but I always found a way out if it. This is only a small example of course, but I have to be honest: I feel much more confident and at ease in my own skin than about five years ago.

I also feel a kind of inner rest developing. I have been living life hush hush for the past couple of years and was all about getting things done on my bucket list. Always fearing that I wouldn’t succeed, that something would come up along the way. When thinking about this, I think this caused a lot of stress, not only for me, but also for the people around me. Certain things happened in life which got me thinking and somehow pressured me in ticking off the items on my bucket list, if possible all at once. I guess there’s not much of a reality to be found there, but I am utterly happy that we decided to take on that road trip along the West Coast last year. It felt like a milestone to me, bigger than anything I’ve ever experienced and it contributed in many ways to how I go through life at this point in time.
Now that I’ve finally found inner peace, it allows me to put things in perspective. The latter, of course, starts me thinking (again…). I’ve been doing a lot of thinking the last few months and I will try to reap the fruits of it.

Part of me is scared of all this change, but this doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing. I have seen bad things happen to people around me over these past few years and I can only conclude that I’m living quite the good life and I ought to be grateful for that. When I get up in the morning, I don’t see any reason to complain. I’m here, I’m alive, I have the most wonderful husband, a great job with lovely colleagues and a caring and loving family. Family is what matters, this much I know.

I know that what I wrote here might sound cheesy and cliche to some of you but this is how I learned to look at life in 2014 and will continue to do so in 2015. Everyone is always whining and complaining and they have absolutely no idea just about how lucky they are. Just read the newspaper on a daily basis and perhaps you’ll know what I’m talking about.

I’ve got some exciting projects coming along and have many more lined up somewhere in a notebook or in my head even. I can only hope that you will join me throughout this journey and I hope my words can be some kind of inspiration to you. Give it a try, you will lead a much happier life, I promise you.

Here’s to 2015! Cheers!

 

 

photos by Steven Van Ryckeghem

To help me organize my life and business even better (I’m a sucker for organizing things), I switched back to paper and purchased this beautiful planner from the gals at A Beautiful Mess, one of my favorite blogs. Look, even my nail polish matches it. Don’t worry, dear husband of mine, I will continue to use Google Calender as well so you won’t get out of the loop.