I must admit that 2018 has been the hardest year for a good few years now. The last time I had a year as challenging, must've been 2013 when I had just been diagnosed with anxiety and depression. Of course every year has had its challenges with it high and low moments, but this one has been particularly difficult.
I began the year working in a dead end job, but with prospect of my dream career in the distance. I moved back home and walked back into a life surrounded with illness. The illness that surrounded me led to me almost losing my mum on an operation table only to be saved by intensive care, but losing my Grandma at the same time. I felt utterly alone and lost because the two people I was closest to, had disappeared However I was extremely lucky to have amazing support from those closest to me and if you're one of those reading this - it means the world.
It was also a confusing year for trying to understand myself and what I wanted from life - cliche I know. But it made me go on a journey from love to loss and what felt like back again and despite the happiness I did feel, it's one of the hardest things I've had to experience as well as what else I undertook this year. It pulled me to and from the edge of what I knew to be reality and showed me a depth of pain I didn't know existed. I had no idea how powerful the heart and mind could be and how it could transfer so strongly into physical pain.Later in the year I moved away from home again and this time on my own and by doing so, I've felt what true loneliness is. I went through training for my new job without making any friends and considering I am a hugely social person, this was very hard. All of my family and friends were hours down the road and I found myself coming back to my flat, not knowing anyone and sitting amongst my thoughts - not the best thing to be doing.
But amongst all of this, I did manage to achieve my dream career. When I was 7 years old, I drew a picture and wrote a small paragraph of what I wanted to be when I was big and strong...and now I am that person I drew in that picture, at 23 years old. There are challenges and it can be traumatic, but at the moment I still don't feel like I'm going to work!
This year has felt like I've been pulled through a hedge backwards...which is probably quite generous to say the least. I'll be glad to see the back of it, even though life can change at any moment...There have been moments where I smiled and felt my heart fill up with love and laughter, but I've also felt it break and cried enough tears to fill an ocean, only to wonder how much longer I can take. All of it has showed me strength and just what the body is capable of handling, which is much more than the brain likes to believe.
Here's to 2019 though...
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