2017 in Review

Today marks the exact day since I came back home from Manila a year ago. So many things have changed, and some have stayed the same. I want to make sense of how I did and what I feel about it, so I'll break it down right here.

A year of travel Last year, my friends and I were able to book several cheap tickets abroad, which is why I was able to visit 6 countries this year. I think that of all the things that I wrote down on my 2017 goals, that is the one that really pushed through!

Fitness Goals

Another one of my fatness fitness goals in 2017 was to have a stronger core, but sadly, that didn't happen. I look back and think of how in December last year, I refused to enroll at a gym because I thought I wouldn't be able to maximize the fee as I thought I would be leaving for Manila. (I am embarrassed to admit that my suitcase, which I laid out on my sister's room when I arrived a year ago, is still where I keep my clothes, a year later. I never got around to unpacking, thinking I would leave so soon)
Later on, I decided not to enrol because I was saving every penny I had for Korea. I did get around to enrolling in July, but discontinued because I was away and busy for all of August to October. As I write this, I do regret that nothing has come out of my year, fitness-wise. It feels like I just sat through a whole year, doing nothing.
What I am thankful for though, is that I didn't gain a pound from last year (Checked my diary from when I went to 360 and they weighed me and I learned about my awful truth!!!), and that despite my corpulence, my lipid and blood sugar levels are normal. Still, I need to work on lowering my risk for heart disease and diabetes by losing weight!!

Discovering the power of waiting

Because I was delayed in graduating, had several friends already working and started applying immediately after the board exam, I was hoping that by January, I would get called for job offers and interviews. I was contacted by 3 companies on December 27 to come in at January 3, but I declined since plane tickets from Davao to Manila cost Php 7000 already at the time. Looking back, do I regret declining? Yes and no.
I will never know what would have happened had I said yes to any of those interviews. There are equal chances that I would get accepted or rejected. Had I gotten accepted, would I even say yes to any of those jobs? Had I gotten rejected, would I be employed at a different job? I don't know. I did discover that I could be perfectly content at the job I did manage to get, which was a content writer, but at the same time, be plagued by 'what ifs?' as I watched my classmates get their first jobs.
I think that because I traveled so much this year, the content writing job suited me and made most sense for me to have, but at the same time, I did concern myself over what other people thought and expected of me. In retrospect, I realized that God gave it to me because it was what I needed the most at the time. 
Immediately after my travels, I came home to a few more interviews, and with companies I genuinely liked. Even though I had my content writing job, I was still applying to companies where I could practice my profession, but only to the ones that I genuinely liked. I feel like this has also worked for me both ways: one, it kept me from the chance of working for other companies--maybe I could've had a Chem Engg job earlier (maybe even one I could have surprisingly liked) if I accepted the first offer I got. But at the same time, I felt like my 'maturity' (I am older than my classmates) protected me from making that rookie mistake of accepting the first offer they got. A few of them are already on their second jobs since we passed the board, which is okay, but something I don't want for myself.
And my waiting proved to be fruitful. I was accepted to a petrochemical company. There are only two main industries I want to work in: petrochem and cosmetics, and I got into my top choice. I start in January. :)
Again, I doubted if this was the right path for me since everything was falling in place for me in Davao. In Davao, I can pursue so many things with my time--I can work for a plant (if I wanted to), teach and since I've been getting more clients for content writing (with some people even approaching me for social media work), I could focus on really growing that business (especially if I was employed at a 9-5). This wasn't the business I referred to in my 2017 goals post, which sadly had to take a backseat, but I feel amazing that this was another possibility that came out of my year.
I feel like even though that business did not push through, I did learn a lot of things about that other business along the way, and realized how unprepared I was! Imagine working for something and getting your efforts to waste.
I prayed about the petrochem job. I applied some more to other companies, even if I was good as accepted. I took an exam for another company while the company that offered me a job was waiting for me to accept their offer (I am such a job slut, you guys, fucking with so many companies in revenge for those that fucked me the first few months) but God led those other companies away. I made a demand request to the current company, which they more than willingly gave into, so I realized, this is really it. 
So I don't know if I will like the job, or moving to a new city, but I am more than up for this new adventure. I think starting a new year with a new job in a new city sounds promising, don't you think? And I'm pretty scrappy, so I would probably (hopefully) make something else of myself while there--maybe pursue that business and find, make time for fitness.

Other things I'm grateful for this year:

• Getting a start on my savings and financial goals, which was supposed to be my focus for 2018, but God gave me more than enough resources to help my family and set some aside to start working on that as early as now. When you're young, time is on your side, which is an advantage, especially when it comes to finances. Being 26, I felt shitty being at an age where lots of people can afford to get married (where do they get the funds? Parents? I very well cannot ask mine), but here I was, not having anything to show for. 
• Practicing meditation. In that 2017 goals post, I wrote about my year's theme being mindfulness, and I'm glad I got to practice that. Meditation is actually not as difficult as one would think. For starters, I downloaded the Headspace app, which is really useful. I used to be a hothead that would let the littlest things bother me, but now I find myself getting angry less.
• Reconciling with a friend. Around the same time last year, a friend and I had a misunderstanding, which sucked because he is one of the people I could talk to about anything. I'm not gonna lie, I said a lot of harsh things about him, but only because I was hurt. Just recently, we were able to talk and make up, which is one of the best things that happened to me this year because I hate being in fights. You know you're old when the things you appreciate most cannot be bought. Haha.
• Getting to speak in public. Anyone who really knows me knows I dread public speaking, but I do want to get over that fear, especially if I were to give workshops on blogging like I had planned to. Just recently, I was invited to speak at my old gradeschool. I didn't want to but when I asked my brother how he'd feel about it, he announced it to his whole class, so I had no choice. I spoke to a group of kids, so duh, they probably didn't listen, but being welcomed back to your alma mater, and seeing your teachers proud of you no matter what you accomplished (or didn't accomplish), was just the boost I needed to fill my love tank.

There are a lot of things I wasn't able to accomplish this year, but there are also [unexpected] things I was able to do, as well as a lot of lessons I was able to learn and re-learn. I wonder how 2018 will go!

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