Life is a Learning Experience if you Allow it to Be

Welcome to 2024!

I hope you enjoyed the holidays and have a happy new year!

It’s hard to believe we are already in the new year.

Time flies when you are having fun.

This week, I want to talk to you about how I spend my time during the holidays. I want to talk to you about this because I know many of you are struggling, especially during the holidays. Present company included.

I’m hoping that by sharing this with you, I can help you.

Over the holidays, I stayed away from social media, which taught me a lot, good and bad. The good part is I better understand who my true friends are, and I had a lot of time to think, reflect, meditate, and learn about myself.

The bad part is I posted that people could reach me on Messenger before I signed out for the holidays. Most people chose to comment on my post instead of on Messenger.

Why?

Why is it so hard to say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays in thirty seconds or less? I understand this is a busy time of year, but this doesn’t happen during the holidays. It happens all year round.

Typically, I’m the first to send out holiday messages in comments and everyday conversations. I keep asking myself why this is the case. Why should I be the one to reach out first or even post on social media?

Oh yeah, things got deep for me on this one.

As I mentioned, I found out who my true friends are. They’re the ones who reached out to me and said Merry Christmas and to see if I was feeling okay. They knew I struggled during this time of year, and they asked how I was doing and if I was okay.

Thank you. I appreciate it. They know who they are.

As far as continuing to be on social media, I will post my articles every Monday on Facebook and the link on X. Besides that, I may post occasionally, but less often.

In 2024, I will spend more time and energy focusing on myself, my friends and loved ones. Also, I plan to continue working on myself and how I can deal with my mental health and handle situations and my emotions.

And a sprinkle of fun somewhere in there.

I’m starting to hate social media. It’s toxic.

For many, it’s a way to stay connected with friends and family, which can easily happen through messaging, email, etc.

So, there will be less social media for me in 2024.

Less scrolling and more rolling.

I want to briefly share a few things I’ve learned from meditating and reflecting on my life. In my journey, I’ve learned a few things about myself:

Anxiety – My anxiety goes up often, which I knew. Right now, I’m learning techniques to calm my anxiety.

Anger – I get angry more than I should, especially when I lose control of a situation. I must control my anger, especially regarding my friends and loved ones. Anger is good in certain situations, but I must learn to control it better.

Positivity – A lot of people believe I am always positive and happy. That’s not always true. I’m human, and I have my good and bad days. I do my best to stay quiet and positive during a bad day. However, if something comes up, my instinct is to lash out. I go into flight or fight mode. It’s a good skill when I need to protect myself or advocate for myself and others. Again, there’s a time and place for that.

Calmness – I need to remember to take time for myself. With everything going on in the world, and sometimes in my life, I need to remember to be calm. Slow my roll, and take time for myself. Live in the moment. Savour the good things and the moments. The truth is, they may never come again. The best thing I can do is enjoy and show gratitude for them.

Moving forward – I will continue to meditate daily and practice mindfulness. Life is a learning experience. We learn as we go. When people can stop mindlessly running around for a moment and breathe, you’ll learn a lot about yourself and the world around you.

Those are my plans for 2024, which I’ve already started. I’m excited to continue growing and learning more about myself and our world. Hopefully, I was able to help you in your own journey.

Happy New Year!

See you next week.