What a year it has been…. I heard somewhere that your birthday is like your own personal new year’s! You get to reflect over the last year, your accomplishments, your shortcomings, and MOST of all, your growth. I will start by saying that I am quite emotional writing this because I am incredibly proud of the woman I’m becoming and how far I’ve grown by the grace of God. I’m toying with the idea of just writing a list because I am lowkey exhausted right now vs. writing it like a story BUT come along with me on this journey anyhow…..
As a kid, I always idealized 28; weird right? I know….. Most people look at 21 or 25 or even 30 but to me 28 was always going to be my year. I said to myself, I will get married when I’m 28, I will be close to buying my house, I will be traveling the world and working a FANTASTIC job! A few years ago when I actually did the math, I realized that I would be 28 in 2020 which made it even more special…..(I even had my wedding hashtag picked out #borabora2020). Everything was riding on 28 and it took a WHOLE GLOBAL PANDEMIC for me to realize that I had created a fantasy of sorts😂😂😂. Although I had all these lofty goals, I don’t think I had spent the years leading up to it preparing for what that would look like. I just “wanted” what I “wanted”. Well God had other plans! If you have followed the blog in the last year, you will know that it was a rollercoaster of a year much like most people’s 2020. Nevertheless, I legit don’t think I have grown this much in any one year.
Here are some recaps
Work/Career Recaps
I won a National Award for being the Career Coach of the Year 😅, it’s still so surreal!!!
I got a new job and became a Manager (program management) for the first time at 28
I did my first speaking engagement to a large audience outside work and have subsequently done 9 more and I love it.
I launched my business website and started developing a strong brand, shout out to fitdconsulting.com or @fitdconsulting on Instagram (shameless plug).
In my rookie year in sales, I did incredibly well – I’m planning to write something on LinkedIn (it’s performance evaluation season at work)so look out for it.
2. Relationship Recaps
I addressed my daddy issues out loud for the 1st time in my life! This one is HUGE because it began a conversation that has unraveled so much about how I interact with the world
I FINALLY got over a romantic relationship after about 4 years of back and forth (I didn’t even know it was holding me back). I can now say that we are truly friends without secretly holding out hope for anything else. #ThankGodForGROWTH
I examined the relationships I had with my family members specifically my sisters and how I might have let my insecurities hold me back from having a FULL relationship with them…..this one is still a work in progress.
3. Mental & Emotional Recaps
I started a blog 😁! This time last year I did not have this blog and since May 2020, I have written 16 blog posts!! For me, it is less about the posts BUT more about how this process of writing, has DRASTICALLY transformed my mental health….Being able to let it out, address it, express it, and then let it go has been instrumental, to say the least.
I wrote about spirituality, speaking life, being filled with God ALONE, letting go of destructive identities, Imposter syndrome, relationship mistakes, and insecurities in relationships. I also wrote about therapy, redefining success, understanding my own privilege, racism, dating, sex (or the lack thereof), love, and marriage.
Just read through all the other posts, if you are interested
4. Spiritual Recaps
God took me on a journey! He knew that to step into the life he has called me to, He would have to prune me, and prune He did!
There was a period between March 2020 and Dec 2020 that God legit took me on weekly expeditions to the worst, most broken, and downcast areas of my soul. To say it was painful would be an understatement. Everything I knew about myself was pulled apart, examined, fixed, and put back together…..it was lessons based on the idea of TOTAL surrender.
5. Physical Health Recaps
This one is a VERY sore topic for me…… because for as long as I can remember I have always had a complicated relationship with my body, like most women I know.
I can HONESTLY say I have come out on the other side; of course, there are days where I “slip up” but I’m no longer afraid of my own body and I finally feel some semblance of freedom…..Ok, yea I know I’m being hella cryptic hahahah! But I have never really talked about my body on the internet, but I’m ready to talk about it now. It’s not because I feel obligated to talk about it, but because I’ve truly grown…..... so on that note, I’m going to be doing a blog series on all things body image, body dysmorphia, eating habits, beauty standards, insecurities, and overcoming it by God's healing and redeeming power! I think I wanna call it
“The Bawdy ody ody Series”.
So there you have it, the 28th year done! The year that looked one way in my mind and went another way in reality, the year of amazing growth and freedom. I can honestly say that I’m super excited about 29 because it’s about to be 🔥🔥🔥
As always thanks for coming on this journey with me, I appreciate it.
Happy Birthday to ME!
Ibiyemi