Why – well I’ve enjoyed my break, but as one year finishes and another starts I start to examine my goals and think ahead, and I like to do that via my blog. Though looking back at the past two years, I’ve done a let’s look back and see all the positives that have happened. I think I am going to do a bit of both.
Firstly what have I been very thankful for this year, me getting an ongoing contract which I’m really enjoying, finding a job you like is hard, finding a contract you like even harder, so having a job that I like with managers who are happy to train me and give me extra things to do, fabulous. Pat and I moving to our own place and finding it surprisingly quieter than anticipated and absolutely loving the suburb we have moved to. Having hair that is finally long enough that I feel normal and it feels like me – seriously when you consider that in December 2019 I had less than a centimetre of hair on my head, having hair that touches my shoulders is wonderful – I’ve now made the decision to just let it grow, I’ll see where it is in 6 months and make a decision at that point about cutting it. Along with that I can celebrate almost 2 years of being cancer free – having finished treatment in January 2020 and my trip to the Oncologist just before Christmas, he was very happy with all my blood work – CA15-3 really low, very mild lymphedema, no cholesterol issues, no pre diabetes, slightly low white blood cells but nothing to be worried about.
Other things I’ve been thankful about – finding a new sport that I really enjoy – never thought that would happen – I’m loving dragon boating and it is really helping with my fitness. We’re slowly making friends which has been great, another good thing is I became a great aunt (to one of my nieces from my first marriage). My little grand-niece is lovely. The other thing I have been doing fairly regularly this year is catching up with my dad and my sister for meals at various places – something that we have all been enjoying. I will say the other thing I am really happy about right at this moment is air conditioning and that we were intelligent enough to rent a place that has air conditioning.
Looking ahead I heard a great thought experiment from one of the YouTuber’s that I watch – Laura Hutchinson of How to Get Your Shit Together – in that she asks, “What would make this year successful? When you look at yourself a year from now, it’s December 31st you are looking back at the year that was, what have you done, what did you do that year, that has led you to a place where you feel successful, you feel satisfied, you feel fulfilled…What does success look like to you.”. There is a lot more here is the link to the video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWzn0ngY7mM
This made me think about what would I consider a successful 2022, so I sat down and wrote 3 things that I wanted to be able to look back at this time next year (it’s 28 December 2021 as I write this). One of these would be to have a permanent job, this is difficult, not because there aren’t jobs out there but I enjoy my current one, but I want a permanent job and the benefits that come with that – such as being paid for leave and public holidays. Secondly is to have increased our savings so that we can buy our own place next year. I’ve realised that having my own place makes me feel more secure (maybe a reflection on the number of times I’ve moved?). We do love our currently location and would like to stay here, near the river and the city – it really has been a surprise to us how much we do like it. And lastly – lose weight – yes I do realise that this is a constant in my life, but unfortunately the reality is that weight gain after one has finished breast cancer treatment, is thought to increase your risk of reoccurrence – and being overweight to start with is already a risk so this is a necessity – and one that my oncologist is concerned with. The diet starts tomorrow 😉. Actually, he has recommended getting referred to a dietician that can help with things. We will see – the plan is only to lose the 10 kilos I’ve put on since I finished my treatment so that is manageable.
As we come in to 2022 and all learn to live with Covid – especially for those of us in Perth who have not really experienced it much – let’s start the year with looking back at last year and all the good things that have been part of 2021 and remember that what I think success looks like and what you think success looks like are going to be different. Enjoy and until next time.
Delia