I have been wanting to do something that would symbolically and also in real life set me off to 2022. There have been many thoughts and emotions from 2021 and I felt I needed to release them. And my coach kept on talking about gratitude journals and then it hit me. I have to write a thank you letter to 2021, and in particular that I believe in the attitude of gratitude, so here it goes. Short and sweet:
Thanks for giving me the wisdom and courage to end the longest professional ( and gee even private 😳🤯) engagement that I have ever had. Almost 16 years with one organisation and altogether almost 20 in the humanitarian sector. This farewell allowed me to experience a sense of freedom and relief I never knew I needed and the weight off my shoulders I never knew I had. The exhilaration that this brought me was beyond what I had expected and it allowed me to discover that I had so much more creativity and entrepreneurship, setting me off to exciting professional experiences.
Thank you for inspiring me to regain my roots, going against the universal trend but true to my heart, after living and working in oh so many countries ( 12 if I count well) abroad. It is literally a wiser, older, more patient, and more experienced self doing things the “less dramatic way” and enjoying the smaller things in life.
Thank you for bringing new amazing people, friends, and one particular friend to my life. Finding true friendship in midlife is not always easy and this has been a gift.
Thank you for reconnecting with my old friends who have not forgotten me after years of living abroad. They could have but they did not:-)
Thank you for NOT allowing me to board massive planes taking me to faraway distant lands full of adventure. This one has been particularly challenging as my feet are itchy and cravings are deep. More importantly, local and regional travel allowed me to appreciate the beauty of places I did not know existed. ( This does not mean I will never resume this travel but surely less. My feet are restless and my travel wishlist is getting longer by day!!!)
Thank you to total strangers who have offered a helping hand and I have tried to give back to the universe.
Thank you for reminding me on and on and in different forms: “what you sow, so you shall reap”, “it’s not about intensity but consistency”.
Thank you for bringing the funkiest and sweetest doggo into my life. Life would not be the same without you.
In truth, there are many more things I could write. Thank you to all my friends, my family members, my teachers in different forms, my coaches, my neighbours, to all who said yes and all those who said no. Life has been good! Easy? Not at all. I am bracing up for even better! Easier? Definitely not. Full of challenges? For sure. Frustrations? You bet! Opportunities? Keep the eyes and all senses open and keep on looking!
Be happy!
Be well!
be inspired!
With Love,
V.
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