The year is almost over. Soon, the time will come to toss out the old 2018 calendars and put up the fresh-scented and newly printed 2019 calendars. And I’m already filling out my (imaginary) 2019 planner (I haven’t bought mine yet, but I’m already getting requests for events to fill in). 
Normally, my final blog of the year is a deep self-reflection on everything that I have experienced this year (and this has certainly been a year for me), and people may be expecting that, especially since I haven’t written on my blog over the past few months (graduate school, y’all).
But this time, I want to do something a little different.
This time, I want to celebrate and encourage you. Yes, YOU, the one reading this post right now! This post is to help uplift your spirits and make you realize just how amazing you really are, just for making it through another year.
Putting The Year in Perspective
During this time of year, a lot of people sit back and think about what they faced, what they experienced, the ups and downs in their lives. And for some people, the thoughts and memories that cross their mind may cause them to smile at all the positive things that they recall over the year while others grimace in pain, hurt and shame, wishing they can erase the year.
Personally, this year has been a year of growth and change; completing my first full year of graduate school on top of working, serving at church, balancing family and friends, working on my health, connecting with people and developing a social life back in Orlando, I’ve had many hits and misses.
Even outside of our personal bubbles, we have to consider everything that has happened in this country politically, socially, economically, etc. We’ve been on a roller coaster ride that has left many people feeling forgotten, hurt, abused, anxious and angry. Protests and hashtags on Twitter dominated news networks, along with shootings and destruction. It seems so difficult to believe that Black Panther broke records in the same year that the #MeToo movement opened up conversations about sexual harassment. Or that destructive storms and devastating shootings rocked our worlds the same year Beyonce gave us a Coachella performance that was the definition of #BlackExcellence and #BlackGirlMagic.
So, it’s natural to perhaps feel as though you have nothing to celebrate this holiday season. Nothing to look forward to. Nothing to be excited about.
But I’m going to help put things in perspective for all of us, because I’m excited for you, for me, for all my friends.
We’re still here – for all the drama, stress, anxiety, mess and foolishness we may have endured in 2018, individually or in our communities, we are still here to deal with it. Which means, we are still alive. And if nothing else makes you grateful this holiday season, being alive is better than being dead.
We are loved – maybe our families are crazy or parts of them are gone, for one reason or another, or maybe we’ve lost some friends, but there is someone, somewhere in this world who has our name in their hearts and minds. You may feel lonely, but you are never truly alone, even if someone isn’t always physically by your side.
We’re growing and learning – we don’t have this whole “adult” thing completely figured out yet, and we may never reach a place where we do, because life is one heck of a pitcher, specializing in throwing curve balls. But we’re doing better than we think. We’re figuring out how to navigate through life as it constantly shifts and changes every day and, along the way, discovering more about who we are in the process.
We still have our dreams – it may seem easier to believe that where we currently are in life is all we have to look forward to, but I know that’s not true. How, you may ask? Because I’ve spoken with many of my friends who keep striving toward their goals and dreams. I’ve see the hard work people are putting into moving one step forward toward a goal or a dream that is rooted deep inside their minds and their hearts. Even myself; I have goals and dreams that I’m working on (and will hopefully release some of it in the next few years).
We’ve accomplished at least one thing – regardless what we SHOULD have at this stage in our lives, nobody can say that we haven’t done at least one thing to be successful based on OUR personal definitions this year. Whether it’s getting married, entering a relationship, getting our first home, paying off debt, having children, starting a new career or starting up our own business, traveling somewhere new in the world, winning a competition, accomplishing a dream or goal, meeting new friends, healing from old wounds, developed a passion, picked up a new hobby, grown and matured in a certain area of life, saving money, getting our health, physical or mental, on track, starting school, finishing school, moving to a new city, saving money … the list can go on, but I think, once you look at the year through these lenses, we’ve done a lot of great things. YOU have done a lot more this year than you may have given yourself credit for.
Looking Forward to the New Year
So here we are, standing on the edge of a new year. A new start. New opportunities. New adventures.
None of us know what the next year will bring us. None of us know where we will go, what we will do, how life will change for us. But isn’t that the adventure of life? The unknown, the unexpected, the mysteries that we can only unravel by traveling forward, trusting and believing that God’s best is ahead of us?
“…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6
This verse has been my go-to verse since my birthday, reminding me that there is something great in me that God has placed in my heart and my life to grow and mature me, and that what God is doing in me and through me is not yet complete. Which means that, every day I wake up, I have something to look forward to, something to strive for.
And so do you. So let’s go get it!
The Book of James 