I'd say 2019 was a year of EPIC growth and change on my behalf, and I'm not just talking about my weight!! (bahh dum tss!) In January 2019, I plugged myself back into school and managed to FINALLY achieve that college degree. I wasted no time and applied for graduate school, with the intention of graduating with my MSW by December 2021. I continued to move forward with my career: I started off the year with my position at SOS, made a temporary jump to the Oklahoma County Crisis Center, BACK to SOS and then wrapped up the year as a brand new case manager with Men's Firstep. I worked towards the goal of moving back out "on my own" sometime in 2020... that goal is becoming more and more clear. My relationships and friendships continue to flourish. Most importantly, I reached my TWO year sobriety point in November, and will (if all goes as planned) be ringing in the new year completely sober for the third year in a row! So, let's take a lookie at my top ten list that I created back in January and see how I did?!
10. MOVIES! I wanted to see more movies in the actual theater, and I'd say this was a massive success! Megan and I just the AMC Stubs A-list at the beginning of the year. By the end of the year, Megan and I have seen 42... yes, that's right, FORTY TWO movies. I'm gonna do a post on those movies later, but I saw some pretty dang good ones and some absolutely horrendous movies. All in all, thought, it was worth it and a total good time!
9. Road trip. Eh. Not quite. We made it to Lawton, which is hardly a vacation destination. We drove through the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, which was very... refuge-y? Didn't really see a whole lot. We made a quick drive through the quaint little town of Medicine Park. We would've explored it a little more, except it was the same weekend as a MASSIVE Jeep rally that literally took up the whole town. We did get to stop and see Megan's Granddad. We also watched the entire third season of Stranger Things lol.
8. Becoming a better blogger. Eh. Not so much. But it's totally justified! Once I got back into school, it seems like I'm constantly writing at LEAST one paper. Stopping and writing a blog post seems kinda like wasting time, although I know that it helps get the rest of the junk out of my head and clear the way for somewhat thoughtful papers.
7. Schedule clarity. Yeah, no. I think this one actually might've gone backwards. BUT I think it is also totally justified. I did add a thing or two to my schedule, that wasn't there at the beginning of 2019. I think I just need to find that sense of acceptance that my schedule is going to be borderline chaos and just try to do the best I can... but grant myself from grace when stuff goes haywire from time to time!
6. Focusing on the world "out there." This one was kind of vague, but an ideal goal to have. I do have to set quite a large amount of time aside for me... trying to juggle work, school and my sobriety. But I do need to set aside time for others, be there for other people, be aware of the world around me. Pay attention to what is going on. Note the little things to be grateful for.
5. Improving my health. Yup. That one didn't happen. There's always 2020.
4. Improving my sense of patience. I'd say I'm getting better. It makes sense that everything is going to happen, but none of it seems to be happening anytime soon. Everything has some sort of timeline to it. I need to do my taxes, but I can't do them right now. I'd like to find a place of my own, but I can't really right now. I want to go on vacation, but I can't...well, you get the point. Also, I'd say I'm getting better at being patient with the sense that we don't always get the answer we want. If I could count, in the last 2 years, the number of times that I got an answer that I didn't originally want, only to find out the answer I DID get was exponentially better than anything I expected... it'd be a pretty dang big number. A big part in that, though, is your response and how you react to getting that original "no" or answer that you don't want.
3. Continued job growth. Mission accomplished! I jumped around a bit in 2019, but ultimately landed in a position or within an agency that I am fairly confident could grow into an actual career and not just a job. I'm excited to see what happens in 2020!
2. Continuing my education. Definitely mission accomplished! My first degree hangs on the wall in my office... and I'll have degree number two in a matter of two short years!
1. Staying sober. TOTAL mission accomplished. I didn't have to take one single drink in 2019. I won't lie and say that the temptations and urges weren't there occasionally, but this program has given me the tools to handle those and know how to stay sober. I'm pretty positive I'm going to stay sober today. I think I'll stay sober tomorrow, too!
