365

Wow, I actually managed it. With this article I achieved my goal which I set one year ago: to write at least one article per day over a one-year period. So, let’s take a look back.

I started this project because I was in a bad place. It was Friday and a few days before my sister’s wedding. The break-up with my ex-girlfriend was already about 4 months ago, but I couldn’t understand, and I couldn’t accept the fact that it was over. I was unhappy with my job and I didn’t really wanted to live where I lived. You see, optimal ingredients for a disaster.

As you can see, there was a lot on my mind and I knew of the benefits of writing to process thoughts and emotions. I shared my thoughts openly because I wanted to see if people can relate and whether it makes sense what I write about. Moreover, I thought that some of my thoughts might also be helpful for other people.

It was an interesting year. I know I can be proud of myself but today I don’t feel like celebrating. You can find the reasons for that in this article, which I wrote a few days ago. But it is a good exercise to focus on the positive even when you don’t feel very good, so that is what I will do.

First of all, I feel much better than I felt a year ago. On average. There are still days that are difficult, and I have to grind my teeth and push through. And I also admit that there are still times during which I just want to hide from the world and cry. Okay, that already took a negative turn quite quickly :D. What were other positive elements during the last year?

Well, I set myself the goal to become a Design Thinking Coach and I did this and I already could deliver a workshop, too. I managed to facilitate several mindfulness programs at work and every time I got very nice feedback. I was invited to facilitate a planning weekend for the alumni board of Aiesec in Germany. I was able to travel to Chile thanks to a dear friend of mine and when you browse through the blog, you’ll find a lot of articles about my experiences there. I wrote a total of 368 articles (I wrote 4 on the very first day) and I am grateful that people actually read my articles. I eat healthier, I do exercises on a regular basis again, and I take hot-cold showers which further improve my overall well-being. I also think that I improved my English by writing something daily.

But there were also some negative elements. I think I deterred some of my friends. This is not really good because I only have a few really good ones and they are spread. I still deal with the break-up and I finally came to the conclusion that I need help. But maybe that is a positive element, too. I know that I negatively affected the health of my mom, for which I am sorry.

I also want to say a huge thank you to all who supported me in any way during this period. This list includes my family, foremost my parents and my sister, Sina, Roxi, Maike, Julia, Nadine, Alex, Flori & Nena, Robert, Johannes, Zara, Leyla, Ariane, Ivana, Lisa, Trevor and Dani. Writing down this list shows me how grateful I can be to have those people in my life who care about me. I also hope I didn’t forget someone and please don’t see it as a lack of my appreciation but my rather fuzzy state today =). I am also very grateful for each person who has read one or several articles and who commented on them. Those were always small wins even when the day wasn’t the best. It definitely kept me going, so thank you again!

How will it continue?

I have been quite vocal about continuing the blog before and I stick to it. Of course, I won’t write an article every day. You can probably expect 1-3 articles a week. And you won’t find any new articles during the weekend. I want you to not spend your weekends sitting in front of a pc. Yes, I am grateful if you sacrifice some precious time to read my blog, but I would be even more grateful if you don’t read it during the weekend and instead spend your time with family and friends or with a hobby of yours. I’ll try to do the same.

I also want to invite some other bloggers to write on this blog. If you want to write an article here yourself, just drop me a mail, or if you know someone who might fit into the range I write about let me know, too =).

There are quite a few topics, I am not done writing about. I will continue to write about mindfulness, leadership and facilitation because those are more than interests for me. I will also continue to write about my struggle of finding love and how I deal with my depressive episodes (I just call them that now, because it feels like it). I also want to continue with the fantasy story and not having to write an article every single day should give me enough time to really work on this. I also have another interview scheduled (well, loosely but he knows about my intent =)).

It was an interesting ride, and the journey is not over. Thanks again to all of you and may you and your families and friends be safe, happy, and healthy.

Take care, Stephan