A review of 2017 and 2018 Resolutions

I don’t know about you, but I was glad to see 2017 go. It was a challenging year for me(I spoke about some of it on my 27^th birthday), and so far in my life, it was the year that defined me as a person. I cried, I laughed, but most of all, I learned. Boy did I learn some lesson in this cracker of a year! While in 2015 and 2016 I did yearly recaps, this year I want to do something different and rather write about the lessons that 2017 taught me and the resolutions that I have for 2018. I wanted to share my aspirations for this year, and share photos of some of my favorite moments. 🙂

Lesson– Love your body and take good care of it.

Goal- A healthier lifestyle in 2018.

Something that I didn’t speak about too much in 2017 is the state of my health, because well, frankly it wasn’t great(at least up to my own usual health standards). My body really took a knock last year physically and I was sick almost every month with everything from your basic flu, to what started shaping up as chronic back pain(I ran out of medical funds in June already, that’s all I’m saying). I managed to get the back pain under control with regular yoga sessions, visits to the chiro, stretch routine every morning and correcting my sleep posture, but my general well being is something that I aim to monitor a lot better this year. I admittedly didn’t treat my body so well last year- I ate junk all the time, chocolate was an every-day thing rather than a treat and gym days(or any type of exercise) were few and far between. In 2018 my goal is to take good care of my body and my health and get myself to a comfortable state and weight. I have nothing against my weight, I would just like to be fitter and healthier overall. 🙂

Lesson – Venture outside your comfort zone.

Goal– Keep wandering

We all love being comfortable, of course why wouldn’t we! But there is always a little voice at the back of my head that keep tells me to venture outside my comfort zone, because we all know that that’s where the magic happens. One thing that I did last year, which was very outside my comfort zone, was take a Contiki trip! I don’t normally like group travel but when the opportunity for this trip came up, I took it, and I am so glad that I did! While on the first 2 nights that we were there I felt slightly uncomfortable, by the 3^rd night I started coming out of my shell, and once I allowed myself to relax a little, I had so much fun! I made some new friends, tried a few things that I haven’t done before (even like riding a bike, which before this trip I’ve only done twice), all while having so much fun. My goal for 2018 is to keep wandering outside of my comfort zone, and in travel terms it might just mean a trip to South America, because I’ve been wanting to do it for ages but have never taken the plunge!

Lesson – Take care of your mental health.

Goal- Get help when help is needed.

In February last year, on my way home from work(and quite close to my home,) I was smash and grabbed at a robot. I am normally so vigilant and aware, always watching my side mirrors and looking around when standing still at a robot, but I was close to home, it was late and I lost concentration for a mere second at a robot(which is when it happened). He got my bag and ran off (again I normally never leave my bag inside the car, its always in the boot but I was in a rush to get home that day for some reason), and while I don’t care about anything that was in the bag, the mental scar that it left on me was huge. I didn’t realize that I was struggling for a while- only when I kept declining invitations and work events based on a calculation of how many robots would be in my route, did I realize that maybe the incident affected me more than I realized. I hated getting into my car and driving, dreading any social event I did say yes to and not wanting to go anywhere. My ex would have to drive me to and from work for the first month, and follow me home in the months that followed. I was scared every time I stopped a robot, with cold shivers that would start coming up my spine. I realized only in June that I didn’t deal with the posttraumatic stress of it properly and that I was a fool- I should have dealt with it a lot sooner! My mental health took a knock and I kept ignoring it but my resolution for 2018 is to seek help when help is needed!

Lesson -Don’t be afraid of your own company.

Goal– Spend time with myself every week.

Going through a breakup is a weird thing in the first few months. All of a sudden most of your weekends are free, and you find yourself alone during dinner times on a weekday. Living by myself was scary from a physical point of view, but even more so from an emotional state. It was me, myself and I all the time, and before the breakup I was so scared of being alone- and then it happened. Slowly but surely, I started getting used to my own company, and even enjoying it. I read, I wrote, I re-watched Sex And The City twice, and somewhere along all of this, I started to re-discover myself as a person. I often take myself out for lunch and confidently answer “No, just for 1 person please” when a waiter asks if it’s a table for 2, I enjoy shopping by myself and even travelling. I hope that this year I can work up the courage to take myself for dinner alone(with no phone, no book, no shield) and have a solo trip overseas.

Lesson– Love your parents while they are still here

Goal- Move a little close to my family in 2018.

Years go by and we celebrate our birthdays, but something that hit me quite hard last year was that yes, I am getting older, but if I’m getting older then so are my parents. My dad is 50 this year, which I can’t even begin to comprehend, because in my mind he is still 40(which was the age that him and my mom moved back to Russia). Somehow the last 10 years went by, and I’ve been living apart from my family for that long. Yes there are flights, and I’m very lucky that I hop on a plane and see them within 15 hours, but I’ve come to a conclusion that it’s not the way I want to live anymore. I am lucky to have my family, and I should cherish and love them while they are still here. So my biggest(and most ambitious) goal for this year, is to move closer to my parents, as in a move to Europe. I don’t have it all figured out just yet, so stay tuned to the blog to see what happens! 😉

Also, just sharing some of my favourite moments(and posts) from 2017.

The icing blue water of Zanzibar and the trip that I took there in January.

Smiling through the rain in Prague.

I just cant get over how gorgeous Czech Republic was!

An influencer trip to Reunion Island, was one of the highlights of my year.

Queen for the day while visiting Tsaritsino, Moscow.

Opening of the Cape Town store! I chatted a bit about that over here.

I got to visit Cyrpus for a family vacay and snapped some gorgeous pictures along the way.

Walking through the gorgeous streets of Moscow.

Cape Town for Christmas with my little brother.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What are your resolutions and goals for 2018?:)