In previous years, back in the MissSophiaBlog days, I would end each year with a bucket list post, crossing off things that I’d accomplished and new goals I was setting out to achieve and whilst I still have a check list of things I plan on doing over the next twelve months, I don’t feel like making a to-do list right now.

2019 was an eye opener where my friends and family are concerned, the things I am capable of and where I want to be in the future. A lot changed, a few things stayed the same and as always, I grew. But this time, I feel like I grew in a different way- I’ll expand more on this in later posts- but to briefly gloss over the subject, it feels like a more permanent change within myself. Mainly concerning my mindset, and I’m gonna be honest, I am so fucking happy. I actually love life and I cannot wait to love it even more next year.

I’ve spent the last month laying the groundwork to ensure that 2020 is going to be a good year, by doing things like retraining my thought process, learning to appreciate everything with more depth and surrounding myself with like minded people. I’ve opened myself up to new opportunities and have managed to push a majority of my anxiety to the side in order to stop it from stunting my future growth. I wanted to make sure I did all of this before the New Year because I didn’t want it to feel like a resolution due to the fact that most of those get cast aside as it is. This has to be different.

For me personally, 2020 is about focusing on myself, a lot more. Eating good food, sustaining healthy relationships, hopefully a little travelling so I can explore different areas of the world and in turn, endure to new ways of living, cultures and experiences. It’s about taking things in, learning, practising compassion and positivity and making an impact, even if it’s just in the eyes of one person.

It’s about being happy and doing whatever it takes to make me happy, and I would encourage everyone else to have this at the top of their bucket list. It’s an entirely new decade and when I reflect on everything that has happened, the things that I could have changed but decided not to, the situations I allowed myself to get trapped in, the opportunities I turned down, everything that had a negative impact on my well being that I thought I had no choice but to accept, I know, that if I had the mindset I have now, as we near the end of 2019, I would be a lot further in my life. If I had just refused to be afraid of failure, of disappointing or upsetting people, of wasting my time as if I wasn’t wasting my time by not taking chances, I would be at least ten steps closer to my goals. However, it has taken me years to learn that it is never too late to start and the more I prolong things, the further I will be from everything I want to achieve. I’m not getting any younger and nor is anyone else so, if you dropped out of college but want to further your education, start an open uni course. If you want to lose weight, go on a diet now and stop finding excuses. If you want to travel the world, start saving this second and cut costs on unnecessary expenses. It’s a bitter pill to swallow for me, and everyone else, because no one wants to take the blame for their own downfall but lets be honest, we’re usually the only obstacle standing in our own way. Lets not waste another ten years on that bullshit. We all have the same 24 hours in a day and i’m not trying to waste another minute if I can help it.