2019 In Review – Word of the Year

As 2020 approaches I wanted to do a series of posts looking back on 2019, taking note of the successes and reviewing what could have gone better. A great place to start would be by looking back on how strictly I stuck with my word(s) of the year: Engage – both re- and dis-.

As far as reengaging goes, if you follow this blog with any frequency you would know that was far from successful. I have posted blogs and videos here and there, but I can’t honestly say that I fully reengaged. It’s still something I want so I just have to hold myself accountable to do these things that are truly for myself. Doing things that are purely just for me in general is something that needs my full attention in 2020.

I can say with absolute confidence that I was far more successful in the disengage category. I had put a lot of emphasis in my 2019 Word of the Year post on cutting out toxic people and no longer allowing people to feed me excuses as to why I should be around those toxic people. For me there was one specific person I wanted removed from my life. While there are life circumstances that prevent an entire removal, all contact and interaction are done, which has been a huge relief to me. I’ve also put my foot down with the folks that used to make excuses for this person and I’m happy to say most of them are very understanding of where I stand now so they don’t bother with the comments that won’t change my mind anyway.

I had a list of other things that I wanted to disengaged with as well: tampons, naked nails, debt, liquor, sick days, clutter. I would say for the part all of these were successes except naked nails. Painting my nails is never a priority for me so instead I’ve slowly been culling through my polishes and rehoming them. I don’t have the emotional energy to do it all at once, and I’ll definitely keep some of my faves, but I have far too many for someone who never uses them.

Ridding myself of all my debt was the disengagement I was most proud of. All of my credit cards are paid off and my student loan is completely gone! I think I told every person I came into contact with the day I made my final student loan payment. That was a really exciting moment for me. It’s been so incredible how no longer making those student loan payments has completely revamped our monthly budget. Granted, we were making huge payments on the student loan intentionally to get rid of it, but its been wonderful to no longer be throwing those dollars at a black hole of debt.

I couldn’t be happier with my word of the year choice. The things I’ve disengaged from have made a huge impact on my life and happiness. Reengaging with my hobbies could still use some more work, but that work doesn’t need to be relegated to a specific timeframe.