I have experienced positive growth personally and professionally from a simultaneously challenging and rewarding year and thought I would take a moment to reflect and share. Considering I was a newly diagnosed Type 1 Diabetic and spend most of New Years Eve/Day on the couch with 100+ degree fever I could taken that as the sign of a bad year to come.
Fortunately I fought down the fever long enough to ring in the New Year with some friends and see some fireworks before returning to the couch. The cold passed and my health for the rest of the year stayed excellent. Each check up with USF Health for my Type 1 Diabetes has been a confirmation that I am doing well at managing my condition.
The hardest part of 2014 was getting the news on January 17th that Stephanie was having emergency surgery for a brain bleed and after having a coma induced was subsequently pronounced dead the following Monday. After 24 confusing hours believing that she was gone it was a relief to find out she was in fact still fighting. The journey is long from over but we are all hopeful that in the care of her family with friends close that she will improve.
The combination of professional projects I have taken on this year are larger and bolder than anything I have previously attempted and while they are exciting and engaging they have tested my abilities to adapt. I am confident that plans laid our for 2015 will be successful because 2014 was spent not worrying about progress but instead building support. Each endeavor has amazing people involved that that will grow together and find sustainable success!
With my writing and Corporate Empathy brand I have been force fed a constant education in staying patient and optimistic. I am entering 2015 with a second book almost complete and an outline for bringing the entire idea increasing life.
Prior to June much of my year was spent with Stephanie and just taking on projects as I had time. With big new projects needing attention I challenged my self in June to focus my efforts. My #28DayChallenge tracked 89 tasks of which I was 98% successful. The two most sustained successes from the challenge have been the fact that I now practice yoga weekly and have been consistently attending church which combined has been good for my spiritual well-being. The single greatest success was developing a swimming routine that allowed me to train for and complete my first sprint triathlon in October.
The last couple months have been a whirlwind as I prepared for the coming year. The holidays have been filled with amazing times spent with friends, family and especially my brother who visited for five weeks from Indonesia where he teaches English.
I am ready to read more, write more, share more, experience more, and love more in 2015 and look forward to growing even more with everyone that touches my life. Stay safe and Happy New Year!