Reflecting upon 2015

2015 has been a year of focusing on me. It's been a selfish year with good intentions. This post will be a little recap of what 2015 has been like for me. The year began by spending New Year in my old university town. 2015 was welcomed in with old friends at the house I lived in during my 2nd year at uni, talk about nostalgic. The year also began with a self-imposed drinking ban. It's now been almost a full year since I vowed not to drink, but we'll save that story for another time. Flash forward to two weeks into 2015- my 2 year relationship had ended and my new job was beginning. With the long overdue ending of a relationship, a new office-based job and a vow not to drink again, it seems my 2015 was accidentally harmonious with the cliché 'new year, new me'.

It really was a year of new beginnings. I feel like in comparison to previous years, 2015 may seem fairly uneventful.  But, it's been a year of focusing solely on myself. Something that I often neglect to do. In previous years, I've been so wrapped up in putting other people first that I forget to look after myself. So this year, I've been unapologetically selfish. And it's been good. It's been a year of learning about myself and learning to love myself. This is beginning to sound cliché as hell, I know, sorry.

Love
Being selfish is something that I needed to do, so this year has been all about self-love. I've had a year free from relationships. Instead, I've focused my attention on myself, my small circle of friends and my family. It's been lovely to reconnect with friends and family. I've made new friends along the way and created new memories with old friends. It's been a care-free year filled with love and learning to put myself first.

During the last couple of years, I lost connection with who I was. Past relationships aren't something I often talk about. Simply because there's a reason why they're in the past. My last relationship negatively impacted my self-esteem and confidence. When that relationship ended in January, it was a blessing in disguise. My eyes were opened to how much I had lost sense of who I was. After that break-up, I had no interest in dating or even talking to anyone new. It's been lovely to spend a year being single- much to the dismay of my Grandma who constantly hounds me about needing 'a man in my life'. Without having to worry about anyone other than myself, I've been able to do things for me. I'm feeling more confident in myself each day. 2015 is coming to a close and after a year of being happily on my own, I wouldn't be opposed to the idea of being in a relationship. Yet with that said, I won't be going out of my way to make anything happen. Let's just see how things play out in 2016.

Career
After finishing university in 2014, this year's plan was to focus on getting myself onto that big, scary career ladder everyone talks about. In January, I started my new job. I was super excited to get out of retail sales and into a 9-5 marketing job. I hoped that this job would allow me to put my degree and interest in consumer psychology/marketing to use. It hasn't quite done that, just yet. I still crave something more intellectually challenging in my field of interest. For now, this job will do and I'm hoping that with more responsibility will come better prospects and progression. If things don't work out, I'll simply just work on finding bigger and better things. Alongside my job, I also did a TEFL course and a short social media and online marketing course. It seems that I just crave to learn. It's probably one of the main reasons I've stuck with this blog for a year! Careerwise, having a stable 9-5 routine is pretty easy-going and in 2016, I plan to make most of my 5-9 living whilst searching for new career ventures.

Travel & Events
2015 hasn't taken me on any exotic or wild adventures to the other side of the world. But, it has taken me on some simple British outings and a rather spontaneous trip to Disneyland Paris. After 3 years filled with holidays and adventures abroad, it seemed strange having no long holidays booked this year. But it means I've been able to save up my pennies so that next year I can get out to America and hopefully go on an even longer solo vacation. Disneyland Paris was such a sweet mini-break. It was filled with the magic that I remembered as a child and the short flight kept my wanderlust bug at bay for a little while. The weekend before heading to Disneyland, I headed to Birmingham for the BodyPower Expo. It was so inspiring to be at a fitness expo, surrounded by motivational individuals and brands. I even had the chance to listen to talks from Bodybuilding heroes like Phil Health and Kai Greene which was pretty cool, in my opinion. This summer, I also got to attend a few blogger events, travelling to nearby cities like Manchester and Leeds. I always love blogger events as it gives me the opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and build new friendships in the blogosphere. I 100% recommend going to one if you haven't before, they're so lovely! Over summer, I also squeezed in a camping trip in Wales and hike up Snowdon. At the end of summer, I was also lucky enough to visit the Good Life Experience festival, which was by far the sweetest little festival. It was filled with all things outdoorsy and made my inner adventurer very happy.

I may have stayed close to home this year but I don't regret it at all. It's been nice to have a peaceful, calm year for a change. But there's no doubt that in 2016 I'll be ready to throw myself back into the exciting uncertainty of travel and adventure.

Health & Fitness 
At the start of 2015, I was in the gym at least 5 days a week. When I wasn't in the gym, I was thinking about how to stay fit and healthy. I allowed fitness to rule my life. Skip to today and it's taken a bit of a backseat. I'm no longer heading to the gym 5 days a week and I'm allowing myself to eat without scrutinizing the macros in everything. It's been nice to have that break but I still seriously miss having my daily dose of fitness. The past few months, I've struggled getting in the gym due to my migraines. Whilst it's been torture not being in the gym as often as I'd like, I had to put my health before my fitness. Instead, I mixed up my routine to involve more home workouts, sports and body-weight exercises. I started SUP and quickly fell in love with it. I also had a few sessions of Rollerblading and I bought some home weights for those days when going to the gym just wasn't an option.

October through to December, have been a quiet few months. More time spent relaxing and taking care of my health. The gym, sadly, hasn't been a huge part of my life as I've struggled with my migraines. But, I'm learning to incorporate it into my life in other ways - with more focus on home workouts and healthy living. I'm going to work on improving my health and I'm excited to re-tackle the gym and start fitting in those early a.m. workouts again. In 2016, I'm going to work harder to up my game and get back in the gym. I'm going to re-discover my passion for fitness and I'm going to work hard at growing stronger. So, watch this space for the re-emergence of fitness in 2016!

Etc.
At the start of the year, I chopped off my long locks for charity. My long hair was something that I loved. To cut it all off was kind of a big deal for me. It was another grasp at finding my self-confidence again. It was an opportunity to do something daring and to do something for charity at the same time. I wanted to help others so I set up a JustGiving page and managed to raise an incredible £384, which would pay for a wig for a child suffering with hair-loss and I also donated 22cm of my hair to be used to create another wig!

2015 also began with a vow not to drink. With my migraines, I realised that alcohol simply wasn't worth it anymore. So, I just decided to call it a day. I'm not saying I'll never drink again, but for now I'm happy without. Though, the first few months not drinking were surprisingly difficult. Not because I missed drinking alcohol but because it made me feel awkward. I felt noticeably more self-conscious and anxious when going to large events. It made me realise how much I used to rely on alcohol to give me the liquid confidence in certain social situations. It sounds so stupid to think that I 'needed' alcohol to feel comfortable. Luckily, after those first few sober nights, I began to relax. Now, I can happily go out for a few mocktails and not feel self-conscious. It's refreshing to wake up after a night out feeling fresh and hangover-free. The no-drinking rule will happily stay in place for 2016. Not spending money on alcohol means I can treat myself more often without feeling guilty, yay!

I'm sure there's plenty that I've missed out in this post. Summed up into 3 words 2015 has been: quiet, lovely, needed. I've needed to have a quiet year and it's been truly lovely. Here's to hoping that 2016 is an exciting year filled with opportunities and adventures. Thanks for reading and I'd love to know what your 2015 highlights have been :).