“A lot can happen in a year” – looking for inspirational stories

8 comments

1. My new years resolution for 2022 was ”survive” cause I was expecting a totally shit year. Now Im looking at my first ever medal from a marahton, did my first stand up comedy performance last Saturday, have lost quite a few lbs. All of this happened quite accidentally, without planning anything, just seizing the day. Nothing crazy or momentous but just to show good things can happen, even when you least expect.

   Obligatory English is not my first language comment.

2. I feel like a broken record retelling the same snippets of events in my life. Anyway, last year I decided to get in shape and eat better. I ended up getting pretty militant with it, weighing myself every day and not drinking alcohol, exercising almost every day. I lost 30 lbs in a few months.

   From there I noticed a generally higher motivation level to get things done around the house. Also I started getting into an art hobby (most weekends before that I would be hungover and sluggish so I wouldn’t feel like doing any hobbies.) I ended up getting work into some shows and selling it.

   Lately I’ve been slipping with healthy eating, though I’m still exercising and mostly avoiding drinking.

3. I tend to use this saved post whenever someone asks me what’s up with the +?

   But, I think it fits here as well. So, what’s up with the plus sign at the end of all my posts?

   Long story short: It’s my signature.

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   Short story longer:

   I was homeless once, a vagabond. I slept in my parents car. I couch surfed. During this time, I couldn’t afford a cellphone. I still needed one to get by.

   I would borrow from friends/family or some times even strangers. It became really tedious, real quick, to always type:

   “Hey this is actually, [Uchiha], using (insert name/kind stranger)‘s phone. So…”

   And

   “Okay. I am going to return this phone to it’s rightful owner.”

   I wanted a symbol/logo/signature to type at the end of my texts so that people would know it was me w/o anything else. I thought about it for a while and got this, (+). It worked. In less than a week everyone I texted knew it was me.

   I could type, “What’s my schedule? (+)” And they know it’s me. I could finish with. “Peace (+).” And they know it’s me.

   This went on for a while, almost 2 years.

   When I finally was able to own my own cellphone, I would still type it out, out of habit. I knew then and there that I was on a fork-road. I could either train myself to not use it or keep it. I decided to keep it as a reminder of all the lessons I learned during this rough time in my life as well as my family’s life. Most importantly to remind me about the power of positive mindset.

   Thanks for reading. Stay blessed [+]

4. This past year has definitely been one for me in terms of ups and downs that I didn’t expect. Might not be exactly what you’re looking for but it’s taught me to push through the bad until the good comes back.

   October 2021 my mom was declared cancer free after going through chemo and radiation for breast cancer. January 2022 I was diagnosed with bladder cancer. February I had my first of 3 surgeries to remove my cancer. March I was promoted at work and got a 30% raise. April I had my second surgery. June I had my third surgery and began cancer treatment. August I found out that the surgery and treatment were successful and I am currently cancer free, and later that month I got engaged to my long time partner. Now I am just trying to focus on the positives and remembering that bad things can happen when you aren’t expecting them so you need to try to enjoy each day to the fullest.

5. About 20 years ago in November, I was single. I started dating a woman around Thanksgiving. We got engaged in May, married in September, and she was pregnant with our first kid in October.

   It was a busy year.

6. A year ago things were great. We finally managed to buy a house at 40 and things were looking up. We’re contributing to our rrsps, we have a small savings thats building and we’re both finally comfortable. I can now saw that were finally starting to feel like grown ups. Till last February when my wife was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
   Sometimes it doesn’t get better. Just make sure you’re also enjoying the now as much as you can and don’t fixate on the later.

7. Not one year but two years ago I didn’t know anything about making music or playing an instrument. Now I’m on track to release my first album

8. A little over a year ago, I failed a pre-employment drug test and found out these results less than an hour into reading the training materials for said job. The hiring manager called me from the next room to tell me the results, and I was escorted out of the building by security. A certain medicinal plant had just become legal in my state that summer so the celebration had stayed in my system apparently.

   It wasn’t really a job I wanted, but the main office was right down the road from my mom’s house… where I had just moved back to after a failed relationship. I was just hoping for another teaching job where I could maybe thrive at if not just survive & figure out my next move.

   I knew as I was being escorted out that I was done with teaching, but before I could even really start looking & applying I saw an Instagram story from a friend later that day. The story mentioned an easy job with a decent wage, etc. A few DMs & emails later, and now I’m glad I finally have a job that I can leave at the job.

   I’ve learned this last year more than ever that burn out takes way too long to recover from, so if I can take steps to prevent or at least minimize it, I usually take the opportunity to do so.

   I know you don’t have to have a job forever, but you also don’t have to love it at any point. I’ve learned that passion filled work places can be just as toxic as passion filled romance. Both can be delightful as well, but I’m definitely at a point in my life where I’m happy with mids. The extremes just wear me out.

   Still working on getting to a place where I can feel pleasantly productive, but until then I’ve worked on just being. Being more still & patient with the flow of life in general. I protect my sense of peace & balance way more now.

   Hope there’s some helpful perspective somewhere in there.

   Cheers