I realised a few weeks back that 22, as a year, had been uneventful. Or rather that it had been eventful in all the wrong ways - I broke up with my boyfriend, I acquired a job that I have hated with a passion since day one and my biggest achievement seems to be buying a MacBook Pro (which I'm still paying off anyway).
I made stupid decisions, kissed old flames I knew were wrong for me, wasted time. To rectify this problem, I made a list of things to achieve in my 23rd year. I have listed them below (in no particular order).
If you wish to know how I'm getting on with each one, I'm hoping to make a page for each of them so progress can be tracked. Evidence will be provided!
- Spend more quality time with family and friends.
- Quit my current job.
- Get a job that I enjoy, that teaches me valuable new skills and allows me more time for my other interests.
- Learn to play guitar.
- Visit a country I've never been to before.
- Take up running and run a 5k.
- Cook dinner at least once a week, using recipes from recipe books.
- Go on a girls holiday.
- Write in my diary more often, ideally every day.
- Get my provisional driving licence.
- Buy a DSLR.
- Write a letter to my MP to arrange a free tour for myself of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.
- Dress more creatively, wear jeans less.
- Get headshots done.
- Do more Acting/Extra work.
- Learn more about photography.
- Go to more gigs.
- Book a one-year working holiday.
- Buy a Pashley Poppy Bicycle in Pastel Blue and start cycling.
- Travel more within the UK.
- Pay more attention to good grooming.
- Ride every ride at Chessington World of Adventures, Thorpe Park and Alton Towers.
- Start writing regularly about my life and experiences on my blog.
"I am trying to live my life with a sharpie marker approach. You can't erase the strokes you've made, but each step is much bolder and more deliberate." - Dianna Agron
On Monday, I turned 23.
I've always had a good feeling about 23 as an age, just as I knew the 22 was going to be yucky (apart from the whole coinciding-with-the-release-of-Taylor-Swift's-hit-single thing).
I was supposed to be at work that day. I work a lot of Mondays and I was down to work this one, even though it was my birthday. I'd requested it off months and months in advance, but due to staffing issues, it didn't look like it was going to happen.
I asked one of my colleagues if she minded working on a low head count that day and she said no, so after some persistence my managers okayed the day off.
At about 3.15pm on the day I was at the station with my mum, waiting for a train into London as we were going to a restaurant to celebrate. I got a call from my Area Manager to say that the store had been the victim of a robbery. I won't go into detail, but the incident was frightening, dangerous and sinister. It was of a completely different nature to that which these stores are used to. Thankfully, no one was hurt.
For the rest of that day, I couldn't shake off that chilling feeling. It could've been me, I could easily have been there. How would I have dealt with it, how would it have affected me? What might have happened differently? Might things have been worse? Seeing my colleagues in counselling a couple of days later and hearing the full story was shocking and surreal.
Two things I have learnt from this situation, are that:
1) I am a lucky person. Even though I complain, I don't really have any problems, and God is looking out for me.
2) Asserting yourself is important. If I hadn't made myself ask again (and I did hesitate about it) I would have been there. At best, it would have been the worst birthday of my life. At worst, I could've been injured or even killed. You just don't know.
A thought-provoking start to what I hope will be a positive and productive year.
