2018 was such a rollercoaster. I know people say this every year, but I feel like 2018 was the craziest year yet. Not only me personally, but the world in general seems SUPER unbalanced. You know what I mean?
It’s like when you put too much in the washing machine and things get lumped up on one side. Everything seems OK until it gets to the spin cycle, and then it all goes sideways. That’s how the world looked to me in 2018. That’s how I felt.
So much happened in my life. My passion for photography and videography and all things communications grew to the point that I started my own business. It’s called The Bearded Aesthetic. I visited two places that I always wanted to see. Sara and I went to New York in April, and New Orleans in November. Each trip was so much fun and I got to take so many pictures. I quit a job that was unhealthy for me. I left my church of almost 25 years. Unfortunately, the job was at that church. I think I’m still processing the fact that I am a member at a different church now. Two of my close friends are moving, and I can’t do anything about it, which is really frustrating. I got an opportunity of a lifetime to work at a great church with some of the most talented people. Also, I found a new church home.
So. Many. Things.
Some of these things are what you would call “good” and others “bad” but they were all new, and they were all scary. I’m talking about the fear of the unknown, not scary in the horror movie sense. 2018 has definitely tested my faith. I’ve had to move past my fears and step out in faith that I was doing what I needed to do.
My goal is to not let 2019 get out of whack like 2018 did. I’m trying to develop some good habits that will help me accomplish my goals this year regardless of how crazy things get. I felt paralyzed by all the commotion last year. I felt like I was just observing life. I believe I felt that way because I didn’t have the support of good habits to fall back on.
I’ve been listening to an audiobook by James Clear called Atomic Habits. The book is all about making small incremental improvements that compound into great change over time. He focuses a lot on building systems and habits, but he says that the deepest change we can make is to our identity.
So, in the year after all the crazy, when so much of my identity has been uprooted, I want to take time to figure some things out. I think one of the best ways to do that is by writing about what’s going on in my life.
My goal for this year is 100 blog entries. I have no idea what they will be about. I guess I can write about figuring out what I want to write about. Either way, I know I’ll have a good laugh reading back over these posts a year from now.