Happy New Year, Folks!
I am back. And, oh man, am I ready to get swinging. I took a little break these past 2 weeks and cannot profess how much I needed it. I love this job, I really do, and I often get asked if it gets tiring listening to everyone speak about life’s tribulations. And the honest answer is no, it doesn’t. But, and it’s a big but, it does get mentally exhausting. And by the end of 2023, the burnout was real. Especially knowing that I had a break scheduled.
Sometimes, I think I live in my own delusion that because I know what I know and help others get to the place they want to be, I have the answers to all my problems, too. That I myself live a life without stress or issues within my relationships. That is far from the truth. That is also how trauma works. It changes us on a molecular level. We never see something the same ever again. Now, that doesn’t have to be a bad thing, but it can be if we let it cause more pain. When I returned from my trip to the Dominican on New Year’s Day, I sat in my safe space, all tanned, exhausted and ready to go and had a thought that this year would be different. Now, it’s not an original thought, I might add, but somehow, it’s felt just as unique as it can be. That I would wake up the next day, start that to-do list, and catch up on all my tasks this week and set myself up with the most success. It’s not that I didn’t get started; you are reading this newsletter, after all. But this past week was filled with a lot of unexpected tears. The physical and emotional pain of how I felt and questioning ‘how I was back in the same position again.’ Then it dawned on me that the stress in my life was not because of an event, a person or a situation that made it stressful, but because my reaction to it was leading to stress.
So, as I sit here once more, in the same safe place as I write these words, I vow this year will be different. It will be the best yet. It will have the same aspirations and ready-to-go attitude. Not because 2024 represents new situations or relationships but because how I react will determine my outcome.
