WHAT HAS 2022 TAUGHT ME
Gute Nacht! It’s mid December 2022 already and I bet, many memories are made, lessons are learned and people come & go are just inevitable. Yup, there must be things that we finally learned in 2022 and I try to summarize them here.
Here are some points that I can share with you tonight :
Live your life to the fullest but put your EXPECTATION aside
In the past, I used to live with very well-structured plans and of course for each plan they always lead to something called expectation. To be honest, not all plans are achieved and not everything happened as I have expected. Then, I used to be teary and disappointed. I need time to heal and going back stronger. Well, lesson learned. So, this year, what I try to apply in my daily life is that I live my life to the fullest and have no bargain with expectation.
For example, if we are doing something nice to someone, don’t expect them to be nice to us in return. Just do something good to others for the sake of “we are just being nice”. If we have the expectation that they will do good to us then we’ll be disappointed if things are not going in our favor.
Sometimes you just have to get lost to be FOUND
Well, it sounds weird, isn’t it? You might think it’s non- sense but I will give you my interesting explanation. When you go somewhere clueless or maybe your Waze is experiencing connection issue then you might actually go out of the usual path. So instead of being lost on the road you could probably find nice coffeeshop in that area or maybe meeting someone local that could guide you to the place you are heading to.
Or, maybe you can actually get lost in your job to realize your true talent that is just yet to be found.
For another example, I started my career as an auditor with all that hustles and bustles where I used to feel “I’M SO LOST” but the good part is that I FOUND MY BESTFRIEND there.
Self-Love is your PRIORITY
These past few years, I used to read many articles which campaigning SELF-LOVE issue. I was like… what is so important about self-love? Until I realize, I can never be LOVED right by someone before I LOVE MY SELF FIRST. To me, self-love is about accepting my self as I am. To accept all the flaws and embracing my imperfection. It includes my body shape, my skin-colour, all those zits in the face and other things which mainly not perfect.
What ever the imperfections I have are the essentials that make me as who I am and the person that I should be proud of.
It sounds as easy as pie but when social media has created an invisible beauty standard to women It usually make us not being grateful and appreciate ourselves as we are who we are. The point is despite of all the models in that beauty products, YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL and LOVED. And NO ONE, will love you more than yourself.
Everybody has THEIR OWN STRUGGLE
People tend to judge that group of people who live with privilege are those who live their best life without any sadness and sorrow or maybe those who always look happy and laugh the hardest are the happiest people.
Then, you got it wrong. As we get older, we will realize who ever you are, how thriving you are… we always have our own struggle in many forms, because everything is not what it seems.
That’s why we need to appreciate other people’s presence, time and effort.
We never know what they get through in a day before they met you 😊
The worst enemy in your life is THE ONE YOU SEE IN THE MIRROR
Yes, I have no mistake in putting down the line. In 2022, I realize the biggest enemy and obstacle is not those who hate you, who put you down or your surroundings. Hence, the worst enemy is the person that I see her reflection in the mirror which is me, my self and I. When people are being doubtful about me then I try to convince my self that I can prove them wrong. It’s even harder to convince ourselves compared to convincing other people.
I used to have lack of confidence and self-esteem. I despise public speaking because simply when it comes to talking in a large audience it felt like I lost all the words to say. In this year, I challenge my self to accept the offer as a speaker in the webinar which to me it’s a great leap I’m taken. It’s not perfect but I’m so grateful that everything went well. The point is, if I keep on saying to my self “Ayu, you cannot do it” then I keep being a loser who thinks that I really cannot do it. We have to try and have the gut to do or start something that we are not being confident enough in doing it because I believe after we try, we could conquer all the doubts. Guys, if we never try then we never know.
Always bear in mind, the only person who can put you down is you, and vice versa.
BEING GRATEFUL IS THE KEY
When I got infected by Covid-19 where I could not breathe easily, I felt that harsh chest pain, I experienced anosmia and every food is just tasteless. Well, I thought I would die at that time due to severe symptoms that I experienced. During that moment, I realized that all the simple things I had is actually SPECIAL. Even the ability to have long breathe is actually AMAZING, the bitterness of Jamu Paitan, the spiciness of sambal, the sweetness of cheesecake is more than just EXTRAORDINARY. Then, I’m so grateful for being healthy!
Further, having supportive parents and loved ones are also the things that we should be grateful for. Always yes always remember all the people who are there beside you, and supporting you at your worst. Who turn your tears into laughter, who lend a helping hand to accompany you throughout all the bad days. They are priceless! Yes, we should be grateful for their presence in our life.
In 2022, I started to do ‘grateful meditation’ everyday as a reminder of how amazing things that God has given to me. You might start with something easy peasy before you go to bed, please mention 3 things that you are being grateful for in a day. For example :
1. I’m grateful that I’m healthy
2. I’m grateful that I arrived home safely
3. I’m grateful that God has always provide all the things I need
When I’m being thankful for all the things I have, my heart feels whole and things just get easier.
That is all my sharing for tonight, I hope it could be insightful and fun to read. All the writing is based on my experience in year 2022. Well, 2022 is a good year for me, sometimes we win and sometimes we learn. It’s almost 2023 guys! Be happy and never lose hope for a better year.
God bless us !
Cheers,
Ayudia
