WHAT I HAVE LEARNT FROM 2018.

Its funny because the last time I wrote a post like this was three posts down. Exactly a year ago. I barely blogged in 2018, and I should be ashamed about it but I’m not. In this post, I’ll share why and what I learnt in 2018.

If you’ve been following me for a while, you may know that Samantha Maria is one of my all-time favourite YouTubers/bloggers. I read her post on “WHAT I HAVE LEARNT FROM 2017” last year and I really wanted to create another post. Let’s get started. Its going to be a long one.

Wellbeing

2018 was not as tough as I thought it would be when it came to my wellbeing, although that doesn’t mean that I didn’t struggle now and then. 2018 was the year of drastic change – physically and mentally. I started the year by joining School of Hot with NellyFizzle, which truly changed the way I ate, felt, and perceived myself. I started in February and continued regularly throughout the week, and I can truly tell you that I noticed a change in my strength. I became stronger – physically and emotionally. I think I only had a bit of a “wobble” when the time drew closer to our wedding date, as I was so busy with any last-minute details for our big day.

Towards the end of the year, around about October and November, was when I had a bit of a meltdown. Life was becoming too much – wedding, changes, apartment approvals, finances. You know, the usual. It became too much for me to handle and anxiety broke me down pretty badly. I felt as though my world was falling apart, even though the wedding vlog shows otherwise. You guys all told me that I made it look so effortless, but trust me, there were moments of total weakness.
It was only because of God and a great support system that I was able to get through the tough time. Relying and trusting God was a HUGE deal for me, and although I struggled with it, it was the only thing I could do because He is in control of everything. He allows for opportunities to arise in my life and for finances to come through whenever. Lorenzo was absolutely amazing during this time because he encouraged me when I felt as though I couldn’t do anything. My dad was a superstar too, as his wise words and reassurance made me feel less anxious about the uncertainty for the future.

What I can say is that I learnt to trust God. That’s the main thing that I can take out of 2018 when it came to my wellbeing. I had to take a huge step in my faith and trust God to take care of our finances (because trust me, planning a wedding in 5 months was not easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy) and home. I can look back at the year 2018 and thank the Lord for all that He took me through because it strengthened my faith and my emotional state. I am stronger.

Relationships

Ahhh, the wonderful world of relationships. 2018 taught me who I can truly depend on in times of trouble and chaos. I had to learn to be okay with people walking out of my life, and for those who know me well will know that this is tough for me because I become really fond of people quite quickly. What I decided to do instead of focusing on the negativity in certain relationships, I focused on those people who brought love and light into our relationship. The ones who made an effort in talking to or seeing each other.
I think this is a lesson that I would like to pass onto you – focus on those who choose to focus on you too. Let go of individuals who bring a negative energy into your life. Those who are not truly happy for you when you achieve your goals or have opportunities come your way. Get rid of these people. What I mean by this is not become a complete butt and then scrap them out of your life, but rather chat to them about your feelings or write them a letter. This will allow a chance for you two to chat about your differences and then come to an agreement to go separate ways. I feel like this is the most mature and reasonable way of going about ending a friendship/relationship.

Another thing that 2018 taught me is to truly appreciate family. Once I got married in November, I realized that I genuinely love spending time with my parents and my brothers. Did anyone else experience this once they got married? I truly treasure conversations with my dad and mom. I also now realize that they had to sacrifice a lot to get me where I am today, and for that I am so grateful. WhatsApp conversations with my dad mean the world to me; braais with my brothers are so much fun; and mother-daughter dates are so special. Treasure the time with your family, folks.

Career

A question that I often get asked on social media is “What is your day job?” or “What do you do for a living?”
I have a morning to early afternoon job, and thereafter I work on my YouTube channel, blog and Instagram. I facilitate a young child at a school until 1:30 every day, and it was a great challenge but has taught me so much patience throughout 2018. For someone who hasn’t really worked with kids before, nor had I worked in a school before, 2018 taught me how to take on a new language whole-heartedly and become patient in certain ways. I am someone who loves things to happen when I want it to, but I had to learn to take a step back and focus on helping another individual at their own pace, not my own.

I am in a different head space for 2019. I will chat about this in another blog post, as it’s a whole new ball game. But we will see what happens in the near future.

For now, I think I’ll end off by saying that 2018 taught me a lot of change in a very short space of time. I went from being a girlfriend in the beginning of January, fiancé in June and then to a wife by November. Change is something that will always surround us, but it’s how we handle it that’s important.

Until next time,

Top: Cotton On
Jeans: New Look on Zando
Wedges: Superbalist
Bag: Accessorize