Is your life today what you pictured a year ago?

That is the writing prompt that greeted me when I started working on this piece. I have been in a state of reflection for the past few weeks as I pondered on how the year went for me. It’s amazing how today is the last day of 2022 and that tomorrow we start a new year. I think the biggest takeaway for me this year has been the importance of being intentional with your plans, activities and what have you. I was going through the first post I made on the blog this year and analysing if I made the magic happen and the results are as follows.

I talked about planning more and me happening to life instead of life happening to me. I can say that I have done ok with this. I didn’t always plan but I made sure to be more proactive about doing things, trying out for opportunities etc.

I did not wait for 72 hours to make a purchase but I can say that my impulse buying habit was not in full effect this year. I also did not update the blog consistently as promised. The last post was made in July, lol.

My reading this year has been erratic and funny enough, am yet to read the books I got from Baobab, apart from Angela’s Ashes which I have started before I just haven’t finished it. But I did purchase 5 books through a book bank from my bookclub. I finished Thick, currently making my way through Transcendent Kingdom and Why I’m No Longer to White People about Race. Other books I finished include You made a fool of death with your beauty and At Night all Blood is Black.

I don’t want to say I have been bad with money this year. I have started some good investment habits, small but sure. As noted in my mid year review post, I bought socks during winter and also bought a few pieces of clothing this last half of the year but the expenditure was greatly reduced as compared to last year.

I did better in the patience department. Did not give up easily and got some rewards, we shall see if the other endeavours have borne fruit next year.

I actually enjoyed my birthday this year!! The power of planning and intentionality was at work here. The birthday bank yielded 7000 kwacha and some change and I ended up using it to pay half of a loan.

On the writing front, while I was not able to get anything published, something unexpected and even better happened. A short story I wrote during the WinterABC festival won first place and I got me a good 50 British pounds!! You can read the story here and my other WinterABC posts here.

I enjoyed 2022 as intended, got to do some cool things such as hike to the highest Mountain in Malawi, Sapitwa peak which is part of the Mulanje Mountain forest reserve. Went camping in Zomba. Got to hang out with friends, and made new ones.

Overall, it has been a great year. The biggest lesson for me is that, I am the only one who can make me happy and it is up to me to make things happen. There are some things that are outside of my control and I need to be ok with that but whatever it is that I can control, then I need to do the best that I can. There is still a lot to do to get to a place where I am quite content especially professionally. However, I am optimistic that I am on the right path. I have finally accepted and made peace with the fact that I am a sporadic blogger, so no more promises from me about posting consistently. Wishing you all a wonderful 2023!