REFLECTION
“Life Sorts Itself Out”
End of the year blues and Valuable Life Lessons from 2021
I am not one for New Year’s resolutions. I often say that if one isn’t expecting to actively make changes in their lives or habits, then nothing about the new year is going to warrant any success, so by that logic, one can change their behaviours and patterns at any time of the year and be successful.
But there is something about the year ending that makes it seem like a fresh perspective can be gained, and a new chance can be taken to have a new start to life. Perhaps it’s end-of-year reflections that lead one to take a better look at the life one wishes to have, stepping into another year of existence.
It’s funny for me because this time last year I spent some time writing a blog post about how the New Year is the most overrated holiday. I have to still agree with that, it really is the most overrated holiday but I seem to have come to change my mind about using the new year to create a new you. A new you can still happen at any time of the year, but I will not scoff at anyone who uses the new year to work towards a new them.
It is indeed end-of-year reflections that have led me to this change of perspective. I spent the vast majority of the last year in sadness, largely owing to the existence of dickheads amongst us. Nothing against dickheads, no. If you’re a good dickhead, who just teases people for jokes, you’re fine. But there are dickheads who cause sadness in other people’s lives and make their general outlook towards life a rather sad one. 2020 did not need dickheads. The global sentiment was already pretty stressful, so really, dickheads were superfluous in their existence. But it is what it is and so 2020 was spent in a less than jovial state. But 2021 changed everything pretty much.
2021 was rather shit too globally, no doubt about that. But it gave me additional life lessons that I am now going to talk about on this blog post because they have clearly enriched my intelligence and I can go out and preach to everyone (in case you didn’t get that, this was sarcasm).
I have learnt that life sorts itself out. It’s something I find I say a lot to everyone and also to myself in my journals. It’s more of a reassurance than anything else when life goes tits-up but it’s the truth. Life does sort itself out, sooner or later. Either you become indifferent and embrace it for what it is, finding your own peace and happiness, or you make a change and make life fit for you, fit for purpose.
No matter what goes wrong, life will always sort itself out. So short term, there’s no point stressing about anything. It’s easier said than done, of course, but when things get to the point of saturation, it’s a good thing to remind yourself that no matter what happens, life will always take care of itself. What’s important for short-term stressful periods of life is finding someone, anyone, who you can talk to about your fears and anxieties without the fear of being judged or scoffed at.
Sometimes, things don’t happen for a reason. The Universe is a feisty little bitch who likes to watch the world burn so sometimes it’s really just taking the piss. The sooner we accept this, the sooner we’ll lower our expectations, not expecting everything to amount to something. Sometimes, experiences are just experiences, nothing more. And that’s fine. Our experiences are what enrich our lives and make us who we are.
It’s never too late to make changes in your life. I know, I’m being Captain Obvious, aren’t I? It took me a while to learn this one, though. Sitting down and accepting life for what it is, waiting for it to sort itself out is one way of living. But it doesn’t have to be the way of living. Accepting what’s missing and making the change in yourself or your surroundings can be the other way to sort your life out. It might take some time to see the results materialising in your life, but the wait becomes easier knowing that you’ve put your everything into it and haven’t settled for second best.
And that brings me to Madonna’s wise words- Don’t settle for second best. It’s easy to settle for second best when you haven’t experienced the best, but if it doesn’t give you joy, you can say goodbye. There’s nothing wrong in holding out for a hero (see what I’m doing there? Two songs to make one point. Feeling quite musical today, actually).
The point is, there are always going to be circumstances or situations in life that seem comfortable and you may just want to give in and settle for it. But if they don’t bring you joy or excitement and the alternative to embracing the comfort and familiarity is waiting a little bit longer for joy and excitement, then it’s probably wiser to do the latter. Life could be so much more fulfilling.
You would think I’m about eighty, just sharing valuable life lessons willy-nilly but I do think 2021 has been quite the year for everyone and everyone has come out of it just a little bit wiser. I would be glad if my words of wisdom were to inspire or enrich anyone else.
