Time for some insane Year End Reflections for 2017! The last few days on the calendar are a great time to review:
- How I spent my year
- How my priorities have changed
- What slipped through the cracks that is STILL important to me
- And what I DID accomplish that I’m proud of.
2017 Reflections
I usually start by flipping back through my calendar and yes, even my Facebook and Instagram feed. It surprises me how much can change, how much I can change, in just one year. Then I get jazzed to start imagining and planning how much can be done in the next year.
[Here’s my template for a Year End Reflection:]
Top 10 Highlights:
1: My cousin being alive thanks to the organ transplant. It was an 8 month journey for me to donate a part of my liver. This one will make my lifetime highlight reel for sure. It’s not every year I do something that special!
2: Family coming closer together. Sometimes when life gets crazy, family steps up and gets closer. That has been a big theme this year for us. I have relationships now with cousins I barely new one year ago and it is awesome.
3: Running with my gal pals. In 2017 there were many weekday morning runs with friends. We made some new friends and got to know some old ones even better. I can’t wait to get back to that in 2018!
3. Watching our baby turn into a little boy. On St. Patrick’s Day he clapped his hands “on command” for the first time. Now he’s running around the house, talking, and even putting on his own shoes. I just need to get used to the fact that this little man is going to be in my top highlights for the rest of my life.
4. One Day Relays! This year we branched out into doing smaller team relay races and it has been a blast! First we ran Hood to Hood as a family and then got a team of ladies together for the Wine Country version. Next year I plan on running all of the Gorgeous Relays!
Team Run for Fun crossing the finish line.
5. Learning to make Baozi! Steamed pork buns are one of my most favorite things. I’m so excited for the next Chinese New Year party!
Pork steamed buns are life.
6. Erica visits! A good friend from SoCal spent a week with us. Her visit was just what I needed as we prepared for the transplant. There are some people God puts in your life, you know?
7. Volleyball, Softball, Zumba & CrossFit. With a transplant looming I didn’t commit to any big races. So I enjoyed various forms of fitness and exercise. I definitely plan on continuing this in 2018!
8. CERT Training. The hubs and I went through a training for emergency preparedness. It doesn’t sound thrilling, but we met more people in our community and I learned a lot of “little things” to help keep my family safe.
9. The Solar Eclipse was WAY cooler than I thought it was going to be. We just happen to live in the path of totality. We got to see the sun completely blocked for about 48 seconds. It was truly a rad experience. I’d even go so far as to say it’s worth traveling to see it happen at least once in your lifetime.
10. The Oregon Wine Half with my family. J and I ran the half marathon as a relay, passing our baby off at the exchange. The extra bit of awkwardness bringing the bubs along was so worth it and plus, I love seeing my husband run. You can read J-dub’s version of the events here:
5 Disappointments
1: Back pain and core strength issues. I wrote about it at length here, but the jist is that I wasted a lot of time this year struggling because I should’ve seen a PT for postpartum core issues a lot sooner.
2: “Some people”. Can I say that? I’m talking about intentional ignorance and trending hatred. Be it political crap, racial crap, or…well it doesn’t matter. Point is there has been a lot of ugly unveiled this year, sometimes in people I’m close too, and it just hurts, dammit.
3: No family trip. Don’t get me wrong. We took tons of trips. But they were all to UCSF in preparation for the transplant. I had wanted to take the bubs camping or get away and explore a new part of Oregon this last summer. Maybe next year.
4: No big races. At the start of this year I’d hoped I would be able to train for a half marathon and get back to top running shape. That didn’t happen, but I did get to enjoy a few 5ks and run for fun.
5: Ruining my phone. Let’s just say there used to be a time when you could carry a phone in your sports bra for a little bit without destroying it. They just don’t make phones like they used too. It’s totally a 1st world problem, but it was a very expensive and stupid mistake on my part.
3 Game Changers
1: A new addition to our household! No, not a baby or a pet. My 13 year old nephew has come to live with us. Moxie and I are officially outnumbered by boys now. Let’s just say I am never ever bored.
2: My Instant Pot! Call me bandwagon betty, but when Prime Day rolled around I couldn’t resist. And I’m glad I didn’t. Especially since my crock pot is on it’s way out.
3: Poshmark. I’m not into fashion per say, but I really needed to let go of my SoCal Gal wardrobe and embrace Sensibly Dressed in the Pacific Northwest attire. I’ve made $255 selling off things I don’t wear and now have a great collection of sweaters and comfortable flannels!
3 Things I Focused On
1: Giving. God has given me everything. And this year I feel like He has asked me to use His gifts and blessings for others in a lot of different ways. I’m glad to be useful but I’d be lying if I said the giving was easy. It’s been both death and life simultaneously.
2: Accepting help. I would not have survived without the generous family and community I have. I have leaned on others in ways I never have before and I’ve seen how beautiful it is to accept help. It creates a wonderful opportunity for genuine human connection.
3: Down time with family. I tried hard this year not to fill our social calendar and “do all the things”. I sensed back in February the need to cherish and protect time with my husband and our kiddo. I’ve stopped and dropped everything just to read a book that the bubs brought me more times than I can count. Dinner can wait.
3 Things I Forgot/ Let Go
1: The “fitness biz”. I started 2017 writing about faith and fitness. I had big plans for this, which has been on my heart for years. I also wanted to get back into coaching. This is a disappointment only because it was hard for me to let go of those plans and dreams. Now, at the end of the year, I see those things are not what God has for me and that is ok.
2: The “blogging biz”. I’ve not made much money on the blog this year. I don’t care about being an ambassador for all the cool brands and courting sponsors anymore. If I love something I share it and if I want to write about it I do. Otherwise, meh. Follow me, unfollow me, whatever. 2017 is officially the year I pull my hat out of the ring in this circus of social influencers.
3: Domestic routines. Being a stay at home mom who has little more than hobby business, I have thought I should try to keep things up around the house better. Some weeks I do. Other weeks the laundry and dishes pile up for a few days and my desk disappears under a mound of random stuff. I don’t prefer it this way and I’d like to right the ship for 2018.
Reflection.
Looking back, it seems 2017 has ushered me into a whole new chapter. I’ve had to give a lot of things to God and set aside some things I wanted for me. In exchange I’ve received experiences and privileges that were certainly more rewarding than my original plans.
I think 2018 will continue the theme of God asking me to use what He has given me for His purposes and not my own. I expect that means far greater things will happen than anything I could’ve dreamed up.
What are your 2017 Year End Reflections?
Take some dedicated time before New Year’s Eve to sit down and think about these things. Come back and share a few things you learned in the comments below if you want too!
Thanks for sharing. I pulled Facebook off of my phone, just to be intentionally less connected. I have missed things, bit feel less stress reading about all the drama. I haven’t sat down to reflect in a while…seem to be in the here and now so much. I appreciate your real voice. Thanks for being you. Happy 2018 Tiffany! 🙂
(Gosh, did we become friends in 2012?!?)
Elizabeth! Has it been that long? Awesome! I’m glad you’re feeling less stressed. And glad you still were able to find my post. Hehe.
Thanks for your post. It was very helpful for me to use to reflect on 2017. 2017 was supposed to be my year to grow my fitness business and my faith. My faith did grow but just like you God had other plans for my business and my personal life.
It is so revealing when you reflect on where you feel you went wrong, but then you realize that God had His hands all over it!
I appreciate that you also learned to let go….this has spurred me on to discover whether God wants to lead me in a different direction?!
Funny how your post came up just as I was wondering where I was going….God clearly wanted me to read it!
Thanks for commenting, Lori! I love to hear that it helped you and that you’re looking to God for direction this next year. Wherever He takes us, it will be a worthwhile adventure!