Not only is January a transition month from one calendar year to the next, it’s also my birth month.
And this is the year I turn forty.
So I find myself deep in reflection mode; not only what have I achieved in 2023, but what have I accomplished in my forty years?
In 2023 I finally ran the Great North Run.
The non-runner.
Who was always last in PE Cross Country at school. A time where teachers overlooked the weak contenders in sport. I never received any encouragement to even try. They were almost more defeated than I was with myself.
This heavy disbelief has carried through adulthood. It took joining my local These Girls Can Run to break down the mental barriers by gradually pushing through the mileage barriers over last summer.
And come Sept 2023, I completed the GNR💜
It’s this focus, breaking down goals into small, achievable steps that I’m taking into 2024 – and my forties.
I love being creative. I love writing. I need to hold myself accountable to all of this again.
I find myself returning to things that find me small pockets of comfort; reading a book, journalling and writing blog posts.
I need to post more on my Warrior&Feral Instagram and work on my Gee Gee Writing website and social media.
I proved to myself in 2023 that energy flows where attention goes.
And this goes for all the things I have achieved in my forty years; relationships, houses, jobs, children. When I’ve wanted something so badly, upon reflection, I’ve always achieved it.
If I haven’t liked something, I’ve changed it. My employment history tells that story alone.
If we’ve outgrown a home, I’ve changed it.
I’m a huge believer in manifestation. Over the past couple of years, I have been reading about the moon and season cycles, working with them to create the life that I want.
I journal on new and full moons. It’s so interesting to look back on previous accounts of dreams and aspirations, to see that they are now my reality.
One such journal entry was where do I see myself in 2027. This includes running, getting a dog and having my own business. The running and dog manifested themselves in 2023. I just need the own business to come to fruition.
Back in 2018, during a low period where I felt out of touch with where I was and where I was going, I wrote a list of things I wanted out of my life. They included flexibility in my work and having another child. Compressed hours and another baby appeared.
While on maternity leave in 2019, conscious that I would return to employment full time in 2020 around two very young children, I was manifesting that I wanted to work from home around my children and school hours.
This manifested itself in the most bizarre of circumstances; a pandemic. Not only did I get my wish to work from home around my children, I was working from home with my children. One of the most challenging and character strengthening times of my life. However, I got to spend more time with them than I ever would have during those very early years.
Bitter-sweet, mentally monotonous, physically demanding – yet safely content days.
This year, the running will continue.
And after a lovely break in Center Parcs last week, the wilds of the fresh winter forest absorbed while gratefully sunk into a hot tub, my focus turns to nature. And to my other love; swimming.
Nature walks, swimming and working on my personal brand and business.
There, it’s not just a handwritten scribble in my journal. It’s also typed black and white onto this blog post. To hold myself to account.
And as much as I post few and far between on this blog, I do love that it’s been ongoing for over a decade, a slither of enjoyment every now and then to break up the daily grind.
What goals do you have for 2024 that you want to hold yourself accountable to?
Missuswolf 