What has been your biggest victory in the past year?

When I said “thank you” when somebody complimented me instead of shying away from it and giving the person reasons on why I think I don’t deserve that compliment.

After doing talk therapy for almost two decades and being mostly anti-medication (“It’s not *that* bad; I’m not *that* bad”), I decided to visit a psychiatrist. She prescribed anti-depressants, which have been a game-changer for my anxiety! I’m so glad I was vulnerable enough to admit that maybe I needed more help. That white-knuckling it through life was no way to live.

My biggest victory would have to be when I finally gained the courage to leave my previous job. It felt like a toxic relationship where I was made to feel worthless, and somebody that couldn’t amount to anything. I was made to feel that I couldn’t do anything right. I operated out of a space of constant fear, fear of failing, and fear of how my boss would react if I did. I believed that I was unemployable and lacked the skills that any company would look for. The victory was overcoming the lies and lack of confidence, to leave that environment. Believe it or not, I have a new job. One where I feel valued, supported, and seen as a knowledge expert. I feel like 3 decades into my life, I am finally thriving, and it all began after I had the courage to run away from the toxicity.

Surviving spiritual, emotional, and psychological abuse from a really toxic and disastrous redundancy scenario and another situation where what was promised was not delivered as promised even though I had paid a lot of money for it. It has been utterly cruel and awful and there were many times I asked God to please take me home to heaven. This world has gone mad and I just don’t know how my heart is designed to thrive in what feels like hell on earth. No idea how the heck I’m going to find a new job that I can cope with off the back of the trauma of the last year, and I only have a couple of months left of redundancy money before I have no way of paying rent. But I’m still alive. Still taking one step at a time. Still trying to hope that things can be different, but I’m just really tired of life feeling like a giant pile of ????

My husband had a major op and many nights leaving the hospital, I cried not knowing if he would be alive the next day. My biggest victory was him coming home and going on a run with him this evening. Now we look forward to celebrating 2 years of marriage in April and it will be the first anniversary we can do something because he won’t be sick!

Learning to say No and not feel guilty about it.

Moving cities and slowing down. It’s taken a while to get used to a slower pace without my friends around the corner, but I’ve grown immensely, learnt to rely on myself, had to put myself out there and I’m super proud for making it through the first year.

Moving to a new city for a new role completely on my own. And shortly after getting there, I also needed to navigate a tough break up too.

Albeit a tough time, I decided to face the change and uncertainty head on. And I’m so glad I did! I didn’t know what the next month would look like but I knew I needed to take each day as it comes. And in the end, I came through with a small yet beautiful group of new (and old) friends and new certainty that I can do tough things on my own yet still remain soft and vulnerable – a character trait that I’ve grown to love.

A mahoosive journey of learning about myself and learning how best to love myself. I’m still at it but it sure is a victory to see how far I’ve come in the last year.

Being absolutely terrified to do something, but doing it anyway. No one is going to hold your hand through life, and sometimes you just need to do things for you.

I moved overseas by myself without a job or a plan, I just knew I needed to go and followed my gut.

Being able to say no and set boundaries for my mental well-being

Giving birth to my baby girl who is healthy and thriving.

Getting through the year and coming out on the other side happier, healthier and living more of the life I want to live.

Probably one of my biggest victories was forgiving a friend who had hurt me. We had had a fallout and I had distanced myself to protect my heart, thinking that I had ‘worked through’ everything and that things were fine. But as the year went on, the cracks started to show and I realised I had un-dealt with offence.

I sent her a message and asked her for coffee. We met, I poured out my heart, she listened intently, I cried as I let her into the very tender rooms of my offence, we both spoke honestly, she hugged me and told me she had no idea what I had gone through on my side. I told her I had forgiven her, and asked her for forgiveness for a hardened heart on my end. We hugged and I walked off, realising that I had carried the weight of both a broken and offended heart for over a year.

I can’t begin to tell you how light I felt after that conversation. Forgiveness is my victory.

Learning to let things go and trusting that time and process will do their work in restoring equilibrium. And buying a dishwasher.