Thanks For…


…The last year, because what a difference one year can make.

I feel like I have beaten this topic to death, and I hope to let it go completely after this (at least as far as blogging is concerned).  It has been a few months since experiencing any kind of anxiety and/or panic, and even the perfectionism is waning.  I am not “cured”—as with many conditions such as these, it’s a day-to-day battle; one thing—most likely something you don’t see coming—can set it off quite suddenly.  But I have been using everything in my bag of tricks to help me deal with it.  It has been a rough year, with many internal struggles.  But I have learned a lot because of these struggles, a lot about myself and a lot about how to deal with my feelings and thoughts.  And I have to say that I’m a better person because of it, despite the turmoil I went through.

On this eve of Thanksgiving, I would like to thank you, my readers, for sticking with me and my blog even though it was sometimes never about the reason you started reading in the first place.  I joined this community simply for our joint love and obsession of all things planners.  It has allowed me to connect with planner-lovers all over the country and throughout the world.  But as many of you have experienced for yourselves, this community has grown to much more than that.  The support and concern I have received from many of you is overwhelming, particularly because I have met only a handful of you in person.  It’s amazing to me that a group of near strangers can be more supportive and concerned than many of the people I see regularly.  I have mentioned that before, and I’ll probably mention it again, because it just astounds me.  That says a lot about you all, about the kind of people you are, and about how lucky we all are that this community consists of such great individuals.  I will be forever grateful for your allowing me to use this space as a place to voice my own issues and work through them, all the while reading every word (at least, I’m assuming you have, though it’s understandable if you didn’t).

In the last six months, I have unintentionally let go of my Happiness Project.  I hope to remedy this in 2012.  This time around though, I want to use it to appreciate more of the good in my life, rather than focusing on turning around the bad.  It’s a slight difference, but really it’s just looking forward to happiness instead of looking back on sadness.  I could (and probably should) start the project again now, but with all of the holiday craziness looming, I know I won’t give it the attention it deserves, the attention I want to give it.  So I’m giving myself some time to really think about what I want to achieve with the project before actually starting it.  Plus, I’m not putting pressure on myself to do it well (notice I didn’t say perfectly).

So once again, thank you all for your unending support and for reading along with my struggles and offering tips.  I look forward to another year of writing about a variety of topics (fingers crossed for even more planner posts!).

To all of my American friends: I hope you have a wonderful and peaceful Thanksgiving.

To my friends elsewhere: I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Comments

  1. Hi,
    I agree that I never expected either to find such a lovely community of people from just talking about our planner obsessions! I wish you the best in your journey, especially as there's a fair amount in common with issues I've dealt with & am still working on.
    I'm also working on moving towards pleasure, rather than away from pain (comes up in NLP) & it's a subtle, but major shift in thinking for me.
    Here's to an even better year to come :)

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  2. I just wanted to say that I spent the last few weeks going through your blog history of your happiness project journey and other links in them to your own blog and other blogs, and I want to thank you for all your posts! I saw A LOT of my myself in so many things you described about yourself and I am going to take some of it and try to apply to myself and my own life. I admire what you wrote because I can't open up like you did, maybe one day I'll learn. And I agree with what you say about this community, I love it for the people in it. Sorry if this is long but I have been meaning to write this to you somewhere and this seemed like the right place and time :) Happy Thanksgiving to you all :)

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  3. Thanks, ladies. =)

    Anita - It's funny how a slight shift in how we look at things can change so much. Good luck with your journey as well.

    Minnie - I mentioned this in a comment somewhere before but it took a lot for me start writing about it. Once I did, it was great therapy. I didn't know if it was something I wanted to broach so publicly, but it actually helped me to look at things a little differently and set some goals for myself. And I was surprised at how many people I heard from saying that they too have dealt with some form of anxiety. I knew I wasn't alone and that are people out there who truly understand. I wish you luck on your journey as well, and if you need anything further, please let me know. I am touched that you're looking at my blog for inspiration since I turned to you all for support. =)

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  4. I know I've told you this before, but your honesty in writing was a large part of what convinced me it was OK to put myself out there on my blog- even with the things that I wasn't sure I was ready to share.

    So, I'm thankful for that, and thankful that I was finally able to meet you in person (and hope to do so again soon!)

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  5. This was great to read Susan, and it reminded me of the guest post you did here:

    http://thezeitgeistofzoe.wordpress.com/2011/09/27/guest-post-keeping-up-with-the-philofaxians/

    which still makes me smile every time I read it!!

    If we could shrink the world so we could be so much closer together and so we could all meet up in person that would be just perfect.

    Have a great thanks giving weekend
    Take care
    Steve

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  6. Hi Kanalt! happy Thanksgiving to you :-) I just want you to know that I have also benefited from your lovely and truthful posts. I look forward to what the future brings for all of us!

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  7. Thanks J, Steve and CP!

    @J - I am honored that my writing would have such an impact on you. I, too, am thankful we were able to meet. I'm still working on DH for a trip to Chicago. The good news: he didn't say no. So it's just a matter of when. =)

    @Steve - Ah, someday we'll get our reality show. And the international meet up!

    @CP - I am also honored that anything I write has a benefit for you. I have taken much away from your blog as well!

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