2022
Lifestyle,  Stories

First Half 2022: Of Wins and Lessons

2022 has been an interesting year so far. Like a sandwich, it has been layered with different events, activities, with different impact levels.

I know that we typically see people talking about the first half of the year wrapping up, but I’m not sure I’ve seen people do reviews, H1 picture dumps (cc – Twitter and IG folks), and all like I saw this year, and yeah, I love eet?

2022
Shall we start this post with a picture dump then?? Nah, let’s stay focused!

Personally, I think my mind was more aware of the end of H1 2022 because of certain expectations I hoped would happen by the end of H1 2022; and it caused me to be more intentional about writing out my gratitude list, reviewing H1, and going back to God to get direction for H2.

This year, I’ve had several wins and learns (I don’t like to call them failures): love letters ear and dear?, with congratulations in between. As I reminisced about the first half of the year, I knew I had to write about it; share some of my wins with you, but, more importantly, share some lessons I’m taking away from H1 2022.

Shall we get into it then?

Here are some of my lessons from H1 2022:

You need a community.

I remember starting the year and sharing with people on my social media pages the need to have a community of like minds who will support, cheer and guide one as the year progresses. I never knew that just a few days into the year, I’d need that community support myself.

Late 2021, I was nominated for an award – Exceptional Product Manager Award; by January 2022, my community came through for me by voting to ensure I bagged the award.

Several times, as the year progressed, I’ve seen my community come through for me, talmabout during my Impact Birthday Hangout, Book Publishing, and other life circumstances that I can’t share with everyone.

Birthday hangout memories
2022 award
Exceptional Product Manager Award

What a community looks like may differ per person, but it essentially means having people within your circle who can support and root for you.

You can follow the Jesus model (the 3,12,70, then others model) – where you have a very close-knit inner circle that comprises just a few persons (like your spouse and a few others), then the next circle of important people who are also close to you but not like the innermost circle, then the acquaintance, colleague, etc circle which is the third, and then the last one for every other person.

The benefit of having or being a part of a community can never be too much.

Be flexible.

This is one lesson God has been teaching me more deeply since late 2021.

As someone who is used to organising, setting goals, and following a plan, I am learning to be more flexible about the how, while being clear about the why.

Several times, I’ve had to take a detour from my original plan or thoughts, especially when I get a prompting from the Holy Spirit to do so.

An outstanding memory for me is the book I published this year. Yup, your fave blogger is now an author??. The truth is I never had a plan to become an author in 2022, yes, I knew I’d write books later in the future, but I didn’t know that future would come quickly.

Suggested Read: The Women Who Showed Up

A fateful morning in January 2022, as I meditated, it was laid on my heart to compile my gratitude journal into a book; at first I struggled, I mean, I didn’t have a plan to do this before, but then I yielded, and the words flowed, and by the God’s help and that of my amazing community, I could self-publish a book and once we began sales, we sold over a hundred copies in one month.

The aim of this story is to inspire you to be flexible, especially if you are a believer, let your plans be breathed upon by God every time, check in with the Holy Spirit to see if you are on course for His plans for you and don’t compare your life to another person’s journey.

There is the flip side too, where flexibility means that a plan you may have been working on and are heavily invested in may have to stop. Yup, I have experienced that too.

In all, we stay flexible and submitted to God. Amen, brethren!!!

Be open to new things.

This ties to the point I earlier made about flexibility, but it is a point on its own cos there is a need to have a learning mindset. This can either be in one’s career or personal life, or any area of your life. Are you open to a new style of work, learning to use new tools, meeting new people, learning a new skill, eating new food, or maybe trying a new adventure?

As humans, we typically like our comfort and are almost change/risk-averse.
Remember the book, Who moved my cheese? However, the people who are major players in life or career are people who embrace change and keep learning.

I recently changed my work style, and at some point I experienced a bit of “buyer’s remorse”, but it made me realise that this is a part of life’s change, so, I should embrace it and look out for things I’m grateful for even in the middle of life’s changes.

Cheers to new learnings

Watch out for joy thieves.

Don’t let the devil steal your joy, fam. Mood swings will come, challenges will show face, and people and situations will test your faith, but hey, overall, you determine how those things affect your life.

First, know the signs of stress/joy thieves, acknowledge them, but don’t give them the power to dampen your mood, at least for long.

Stay joyful
Don’t let the devil steal your joy, fam Click To Tweet

Try gratitude journaling.

I started intentional gratitude journaling in 2020, and it’s been an amazing journey with multiple benefits. My book, Love Letters to Abba, will take you on a deep dive into this. Get your copy of the book here and share your feedback with me too.

Love Letters to Abba
My book – Love Letters to Abba

Love Letters will come.

This year alone, I’ve received quite a number of love letters (rejection mails), you know those that will leave you crying, in doubt, and almost questioning God, but over time, I’m coming to take it as a part of life, with the background reminder that God is working everything out for the best for me.

In fact, I still got a major love letter on the 30th of June. Normally, I would have cried and cried, but this time, I was unsure of how to feel, cos it’s been a long journey with promises of fulfilment looking feasible, “so why then did the end of the first half of the year have to end on that note?” I asked myself.

This time though, I acknowledged that I really didn’t know how to feel cos of the different thoughts going on in my head, so I let it rest, till I could sit with the Holy Spirit and hear His thoughts on the disappointment.

Get a copy of Esther's book Love Letters to Abba here - selar.co/ll2abba Click To Tweet

There will be unexpected miracles.

This is related to the flexibility I mentioned as my first point, but on a bigger scale. May has been a month of special miracles for me, at least I started taking note of this last year, and this year was no different. It came with special miracles that I am super grateful for.

So fam, as much as love letters will come, be on the lookout for your special million little miracles too.

Hey Siri, play me Miracles by Colton Dixon.

Sit with God and let Him order your steps for the remaining months of the year.

I’ll like to wrap up this blog post with this lesson. No matter how H1 may have been, this is the time to sit with God to determine how your H2 should look. Like Pastor Bolaji Idowu and many others have affirmed, the rest of the year will be the best of the year, we just have to ensure that we prepare for the many goodies and goodness the second half will bring. I wish an amazing, and memorable H2 2022.

Cheers to H2 2022
The rest of the year will be the best of the year for me. Click To Tweet

Thank you for reading through this far, did any point resonate with you? What are some lessons/wins you’ve had in H1 2022? Do share them with me in the comment section.

 

 

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