An Ode to 2017

The first week of the new year has come and gone. I’m sitting here by my mom’s Christmas tree, warmed by the fire in the wood stove as it’s drizzling outside. Like most Tuesdays, I’m sipping a huge mug of caffeinated coffee, but this Tuesday is a bit different. I’m not rushing off to work for another week of knowns: almond coconut banana muffins for breakfast, 40 hours in the office, evening gym sessions…

Today, on this second Tuesday of 2018, I don’t have a job to rush off to. The amount of unknowns are giving the knowns a run for their money. And yet, for someone who is inherently Type A – functioning best off plans and predictability – I am okay with not knowing what the rest of this week will look like, what the remainder of January will bring, and what 2018 has in store for me in its entirety.

I have 2017 to thank for that.

With any given year, change is inevitable. Change is the only constant… and 2017 proved that truth tenfold.

If you told me a year ago where I’d be today, I’d laugh in your face. For someone who’s reluctant to change, I surely wouldn’t have welcomed what was to come in the following 365 days. However, with every brave (and terrifying) change-inducing decision I made, I gained a bit more confidence… and a bit more courage. It’s like a domino effect, which some days moves at a seemingly frightening fast speed (my mom can attest to that).

From ending a long-term relationship (an engagement at that) to beginning a new relationship, leaving a damn good job, spontaneously embarking on a 3,200-mile cross-country road trip over the holidays, and now packing up my belongings to make a big move, I have undeniably gained newfound confidence and courage that has only been tangible in my wildest dreams.

I’ve lived a solid 20+ years conservatively — living cautiously and engulfed by an excess of fear. So while 2017 was nothing I imagined it to be, I cannot thank it enough for giving me exactly what I needed: a trifecta of transformational changes that resulted in enormous personal growth — immense trust, strength, confidence, and courage in myself that had been lacking for far too long.

2017, thank you for the challenges, the reminders, the lessons, the tough love, the laughter, the vulnerability, the mentors, the travel, the independence. It was a heck of a year.

I hope you too can embrace the uncertainties that lie ahead in 2018… cheers to all that’s to come!