2017 Reflections

I've got a really bad habit of sitting on my mum's sofa on New Year's Eve, usually around 10.30pm whilst I'm nursing Glass of Wine Number 3, trying to categorise my year. Has it been a 'Good Year' or has it been a 'Bad Year.'

2016 was a Bad Year. Awful. I was pretty pleased to see the back of it.
2015 was a Good Year. And so on. So each New Year's Eve, I put my year into its little category and when it's been a Good Year, I look back on my Instagram photos and smile, and hope that the coming year is equally good to me. If it's been a bad year, I put it into a mental box with the rest of the Bad Years (2013, 2011, 2010 are all in there), re-lock the padlock and try to pretend that it never happened.

It was only really when I sat down to write this post that I realised how bad a habit this is. How on Earth could I possibly sum up 365 days in just one word? How can I put each year, where no two days are the same, into a box and just leave it there? Nope, I don't know either.

So that's ending this year. Starting with this post.

The only real way I can sum up 2017 is changes. I've been through so many huge changes this year that actually, my life is completely different to this time last year. And through that, I've actually achieved quite a bit.

I've changed jobs this year, for one thing. I left a job which was doing my social life, my mental health and my relationship absolutely no favours whatsoever, for one with much better working hours, one which I find interesting and I'll probably never stop learning. While leaving colleagues who I saw as family was one of the hardest things I've ever done, it's been a pretty good move for me.

I took my first driving lesson in May 2017, something which I'd been wanting to do for such a long time but had to keep putting off for one reason or another. The first time I got behind the wheel was probably the most nerve-wracking thing I've done this year! It's taken a lot longer than I'd anticipated but I booked my driving test last week for early 2018 and I couldn't be more excited!

Then there's the bloke that's still snoring away next to me as I type. It's 10am - lazy git. Yep, 2017 was the year that I managed to (mostly) shake off my trust issues and past-relationship demons and let a boy in. We've had a lot going on in the four short months that we've been together - but to be fair to him, he's pretty good at dealing with my needy, slightly princessy, constantly hungry, mardy-when-caffeine-deprived ways. It almost makes listening to his crap jokes and putting up with his snoring worth it.

So, there ends the Good Years and the Bad Years. This year's been all about changes, and do you know what? I'm pretty content.

Love,

Sian xo