‘22 things I’ve learned
December is always an introspective month for me.
This is why for the last three years I've made it a habit, at the conclusion of the year, to share what wisdom I've gained over the last 12 months—episodes & experiences that manifested as arbitrary trivia facts, lessons learned along the way, and (of course), some embarrassments endured.
My hop
e is tha
t in sharing this short list you might feel inspired to reflect upon your own past year and call to mind all the ways you've grown and changed.
The following list is never comprehensive, but it always inspires me to continue the pursuit of living wholeheartedly—what Brené Brown would call living with a strong back, soft front and a wild heart. I hope it inspires you to do the same.
Things I learned in 2022:
1. The tire center at Costco will end up saving you $1,090 of tire work if you let it.
2. Eye contact is powerful.
3. Never make a decision out of a place of desolation.
4. A tooth can and will decide to die on you when you least expect it. So if you find yourself suffering from a major tooth abscess, you really should go to the emergency room.
5. Patrick Star lived under a rock.
6. Sometimes it takes a shelf collapsing and ripping out your wall for things to change. Nothing is an accident.
7. If you’re looking to be humbled, head to a country where you can’t communicate language as native tongue.
8. The best kinds of mentors double as a friend.
9. Inconveniences are just a reminder of how convenient we have it.
10. Well-being isn’t purely a measure of health. It’s an action—choosing to being well in spite of everything.
11. Soup is my favorite form of meal prep.
12. Everything truly is a gift and a season. It’s true for relationships, commitments, obligations, circumstances… you name it. Jacques Philippe reminds me that the less attached I am to anything, the more at peace I’m apt to be.
13. Escape Rooms are great fun not on their own, but with the people you find yourself escaping with.
14. We can only be as humble and compassionate with others’ weaknesses as we are humble and compassionate with our own.
15. You’ll probably wind up with a ticket if you don’t have an inspection sticker stuck to your vehicle in Virginia.
16. Sometimes the most beautiful words ever prayed are “I don’t even know what I need.”
17. 28-hour trips to Michigan are good for satisfying spontaneous desires, but not so great on the wallet.
18. The advice we wanted to give ourselves five years ago is the same advice we need now.
19. One of the healing things about the natural world is that it’s simply fine with being itself.
20. I personally feel most alive when my brain is awake with possibilities.
21. TSA Pre-Check is well worth the investment. (But don’t try using it for your flight to Rome because it’s not the same as Global Entry!)
22. God’s not asking me to have the How figured out because it’s not mine to know. He’s inviting me into the Why.
We only end the year in gratitude and start the new year in hope by and with God’s grace. So it’s by and through God’s grace that I am grateful for this year of learning, and for the opportunity begin anew in the new calendar year ahead!