This blog has been set to private mode for weeks, but I decided to revive it again for the sake of this post. As I publish this entry, it’s only a few hours before 2023 draws to a close.
I cannot say that 2023 was a hundred percent of a good year for me. In fact, I will be honest in saying that this is a year that I don’t want to look back to once it’s all done. 2023 was technically, the hardest for me. While I was given the chance to be on the workforce to take on another role in a different institution two years after the pandemic, it was something I had to let go eventually, of my own volition, in order to protect something that matters the most for me: my mental health.
I came face-to-face with mental health issues that while (it) didn’t require medications or professional intervention, caused me to leave a stint that I was hoping to hold on to for at least a year. But then, it was a decision that I did not regret doing because by doing so, it made me regain the other thing in life that I knew I lost: my peace of mind.
This year was a year of battles. Sadly, even my personal life was not spared. I had the chance to meet the other half of me who knew how to be angry in the face of hurt and betrayal. And if there’s one thing this seemingly unpleasant experience taught me, it is that I can actually be brave when I am aggrieved, and that I have the courage to speak my mind on things that I knew are definitely wrong.
In some way, I am able to live by one of the advices I learned as a journalism student: to never be afraid to speak the truth and use the most appropriate word, no matter how brutal or even hurtful it’s going to be -- because it’s what will bring back people to their senses.
But there’s also the positive side of the year that is 2023. I was blessed with encounters with several people who taught me to know my worth, and enjoy my journey as a “Millennial Tita.”
While I am going to end 2023 in uncertainty, confusion, and still looking for my place in this world, a part of me is still thankful -- because God was with me through all my difficult battles, and was even generous in allowing me to receive and feel His provisions. I am only praying for one thing for the upcoming year (besides that 9-5 day job in a healthy work environment that will provide my with peace of mind aside from four other things). It is that 2024 will hopefully be a good year, and that it will make up for all the pain and harshness that 2023 caused me.
