2021 Reflections

This year, like every year, had 12 months. Therefore, I am grateful to be alive and happy with my journey on this beautiful planet of ours in the grand scheme of things.

Father 😍👍

2021 brought me fatherhood. I have a beautiful, loving baby boy. He is my bundle of joy. There are many hours; I just stare at him and smile. I cannot explain it, but I have never felt this way. It’s the little things that bring me the most joy. Things like:

• he won’t keep still when I am changing his diapers.
• he has so many toys, but he prefers to play with the tissue box.
• the way he holds my index finger
• the way he smashes the kiwi fruit.
• he somehow disconnects every FaceTime call.
• Speaking of FaceTime, whenever I open the iPad Pro near him, he pops his head up, knowing it’s time for a FaceTime video call.

I can go on and on…

You don’t just love your children… you fall in love with them.

Until 2021, this quote was meaningless to me. Now, it is a massive part of who I am. I am a father who has fallen in love with my son. He is my world.

It is not all roses, though. It is difficult, occasionally frustrating, and time-consuming, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Fatherhood is my most precious gift 🎁

Family 😒🙂

Families are an interesting group, and they are your support system, your strength, and the group of people your life revolves around. Essentially, this is true for our family. We are united, enjoy considerable time together and care for each other.

This year, my parents went through issues with my sister and brother-in-law. Frankly, it impacted me more than I anticipated, but things have a way of working out with time. With that said, this incident will always be with me because it caused my parents so much heartache. My mum carried almost daily for weeks, and I was helpless. It’s been a few months now, and things are returning to normal. Everyone in my family appears to be moving on as nothing happened. I am struggling with this process 😣.

Health 👎

Compared to 2019, the last two years have seen my physical health degrade. I have gained weight and increased my consumption of alcohol and junk food. It is easy to blame COVID for everything, but it's a matter of personal responsibility. It's my health, and therefore, it's my responsibility. My focus in 2022 will be to return to my 2019 health in terms of physical fitness and my food consumption.

Upon reflection, my health has suffered because of my lack of meditation. Meditation has the power to make you more aware of your surroundings and to be intentional with your decisions.

Before 2020, I meditated regularly (primarily daily). Sadly, in 2021, I mediated probably 20 times. Ten minutes are all that is required, and I will find 10 minutes daily for meditation in 2022.

Work 👍 🤷‍♂️

This has been my first and only job. I have been with my current employer for 11 years, and I do not anticipate changing jobs anytime soon. After five years in one role, I finally was promoted to executive level within my organisation. Honestly, I did not want this promotion because I knew it would come at my work/life balance expense. I have worked more in 2021 than in any other year. I intend to change this in 2022 but not sure how. My hard work has reaped dividends for my organisation. I spearheaded three large overdue projects to a conclusion where the outcomes resulted in many unhappy stakeholders, but sporadically, the right outcome isn’t the one with the happiest of stakeholders.

Typically, a promotion such as this one comes with the added responsibility of people management. Thankfully, this one does not. I do not enjoy managing people; it’s stressful and not rewarding for me. I am best suited to resolving technical problems rather than people problems and resource allocation, which is a large part of a manager.

Mindset: Appreciating and being grateful for the life I have. Importantly, not taking it for granted.