My Anti Bucket List

This time of year you can’t go anywhere on the internet without seeing New Year’s resolutions. I do enjoy reading other people’s resolutions / yearly review posts but they get repetitive pretty quickly. I don’t want to bore you but I do want to indulge myself in celebrating what I’ve achieved this year with an anti-bucket list. I’ve borrowed the idea of listing what I’ve done rather than things I want to do from the lovely What Olivia Did and Girl Lost in the City.

I distinctly remember sitting on this exact spot on the sofa last year and feeling like poop, stewing in my hangover blues until James suggested I pull myself together and go for a walk. I was browsing the internet that evening and came across Kate Gabrielle’s idea for keeping a “good things” jar where you write down happy moments throughout the year. I thought this would be a good pick me up and a great way to celebrate the big and the little moments. This year I filled my own jar with achievements so that I could look back and remember the things I’ve accomplished. I hope you don’t mind if I share these with you!

• Tackled public speaking. Of all the things that strike fear into my heart, speaking in public is the very worst. I hate it and there was a time in my life that I thought I would never be able to do anything that involved talking to a group. This year I had two assessed presentations for my Master’s degree which I got through without leaving / having a panic attack and with good grades. Because I was so nervous I messed up in both of them but managed to pause, gather myself and carry on. I’m actually most proud of myself for persevering through these mistakes despite the overwhelming urge to freak out. Go me!
• Got some decent grades. I did well on some courses that I found particularly challenging – including a carbon management plan, my module in participation, planning and policy and my principles of sustainable development exam.
• Graduated from my degree. Yay! I enjoy aspects of academia but writing academically doesn’t come naturally to me and I wouldn’t always have believed that I’m capable of doing well in an MSc. Working alongside writing my dissertation was a particular challenge but I did it!
• Got a job. Can you believe it!?!? Me neither. This is really my first graduate level job and last year I never thought I would be capable of landing one. After my first degree I had no success job hunting, I lost all confidence in myself and my thoroughly debilitating nerves sabotaged every interview. I love my job, I don’t dread going to work in the mornings and I’m good at what I do. What a novelty!
• Travelled to Berlin, The Isle of Skye and The Isle of Man. These are all places I’ve wanted to see for years so it was awesome to afford to be able to go this year. They all surpassed my expectations, but the highlight for me was the vegan food in Berlin.
• Visited Northern Ireland and Greece. I’ve been to both of these places before but I still love visiting and I cherish these holidays with my family.
• Grew my social media channels. Okay, okay, so my follower numbers are still teeny tiny but I have at least improved. Social media doesn’t come naturally to me but it’s nice to share moments of my life with friends and share the things that I write. I’ve got better at updating twitter and instagram this year!
• Re-discovered my interest in music. When I was younger the music that I listened to and bands that I liked were a much bigger part of my life. I somehow managed to lose that as I got older but I’ve been spending time discovering new music which has been good for the soul. James and I went to see Garbage and Marilyn Manson and I’m so excited to be booked for Primavera this year!

As for resolutions I only have one – do more yoga. I know that I feel more relaxed and more comfortable in my own skin when I do yoga regularly. Sometimes I lack the motivation to leave the flat or can’t afford to pay for the class. Because I know that I’ll be too stiff to do a lot of the poses I’ve been putting off going but this year I will make it a priority. I’d love to hear what you achieved this year and I hope you have a beautiful 2016!!