2017 Review – A Photograph of my Year

Last week of the year and I’ve decided to make my 2017 review and set my personal and professional goals for the following year. I do that every year and the results are very positive. It helps me to analyze where I’ve been and to direct me where I want to go.

I already knew that 2017 had been a great year for me. But writing about it, even if just for myself, made me realize how much I won and grew and how blessed this year was.

Italian citizenship approved early in the year. Travel to Italy to make my passport. Another trip to the Czech Republic, Belgium and Holland. Back to Brazil to organize our moving. Marriage (without celebrations, but counts anyway, right?). Moving to London, something that was already scheduled for over a year. A whole new life in a new city and country. A new universe to be explored. Great new friends. Visit from longtime friends. Professional achievements, although small (I celebrate all). Opportunities for growth everywhere. My sister coming to spend the end of the year with me finishing my year very well indeed.

Of course, the big changes are easier to see and measure. But the thing that makes me happiest about my year is to see my own evolution. To realize that I have become much less perfectionist, anxious and much lighter is a great victory. Those are things that disturb me and that I’ve been trying to improve for a while (in practice, they are quite difficult to change).

All these things became much clearer to me when I stopped to look at them. Observing this balance of my year was like seeing my current life in a photograph. This photograph shows wrinkles and imperfections but also shows all the beauties and blessings of it. It’s up to me to choose what I want to see in this photo. What I want to learn or improve, what I want to celebrate and what I want to bring with me, or not, in the next year.

In fact, after I did this exercise I felt flooded with constant gratitude. For my life to be just the way it is. For all the people who are in it. For the path I chose to follow being the one I would like to be. And it’s kind of crazy to explain, but I just know that this is the path I want to be on. Deep down I think we always know.

My life is not perfect. There’s so much I’d like to accomplish and conquer (some of that I do not even know I want). But it’s all I could want at this time of the walk. Knowing that I’m on the right path and that I keep building it day by day is what accomplishes me the most.

Try also to make a balance of your year (or your life). And try to see everything in a positive way. If it is a weakness, look at it as a learning opportunity. If it is a happy thing, celebrate, be grateful! But see all that is important to you in this photograph. I guarantee you it will be worth it. Putting it out helps us look inside.