2023 - A Year of many firsts

We said goodbye to 2023 forever just yesterday.

2023 was just an okay year for me. It was not a good year nor was it a bad year. 

I traveled for personal reasons when I could find time to take off from work. 2023 could have been better, but I am thankful it was not worse than it was.

As someone who over the past five years, has always created vision boards for everything I want in life, and improve or update the board as items on the list come to pass, I would say there were several firsts for me in 2023 according to my vision board. I highly recommend vision boards. They help me keep my eyes on the prize and chase my goals. According to my vision board - I had a lot of firsts. Don't lose hope if you don't achieve it by the time you expect to. Don't forget, once there's life there's hope.

Now let's talk about a few of my "firsts" in 2023. I cannot name all of my firsts, but I will share a few.

I volunteered at several organizations in 2023 - something I had never done in my well over 35yrs of existence. I learned, I had a great sense of fulfilment, and on one instance I cried when I realized how much we were helping to save lives in developing countries. Volunteering for meaningful organizations is the key.

Next....

2023 is the first year I have traveled for work. I had three official trips in 2023. Two of which were to cities I have never been to. One was to a totally new state - Oregon. It's always a good thing to explore a new city/state.

One area of my life that was not 100% new, but kind of a first was the area of communal prayer. I have been a churchgoer all of my life, I was part of a small family prayer group in 2011. 2023 was a year of communal prayer for me, both within the US and International. I would say it started in 2022, but definitely intensified in 2023. I participated in a few prayer groups daily and one family Bible study group.
If you know me, you know that I have no one but God. My problems in life can only be solved by God. All of my problems in the past were solved by God, somehow. Interestingly, most were solved when I least expected it. 

Lastly:

#NYEParty

I went to a New Years eve party at a restaurant I had visited a few times. I have celebrated most NYEs out of the US, and the ones that I am in the US, I usually spend them in Church or on my bed and go to sleep. This was my first NYE party. EVER... I must say, I enjoyed it. I danced the night away. Who would have thought so? 💃

Overall, I wish 2023 was a better year. I learned a lot, met some very interesting people who made me think. I allowed God to prune my list of acquaintances and guess what - I made some new unexpected acquaintances. Let's see if they turn into friends.

Thank you 2023. Goodbye 2023.

My theme for 2024 is: SURRENDER. There are two areas of my life that I am totally surrendering to God. I will not be praying about them anymore. They are both in His Mighty hands, because there's nothing I can do anymore.