Better Than Yesterday, Worse Than Tomorrow

Hello Once Again Audience!

So here we are. A new year, a new blog post. And you may notice, a brand new blog entirely. The old blog still exists, don't worry, but I felt it was time for a fresh start, which coincidently is what this post is all about, being the new year and all, it feels appropriate. 

This is usually the time that I sit down and regale you all with tales and adventures from the past year. I shall not do that this time. A lot went down in 2017, and a fair bit of it I have no intention of trying to relive. There were some personal highlights though, some life-long goals achieved. But in some ways, 2017 has been one of the roughest years I've had to endure so far. There have been times when I've found it hard to hope for days yet to come, and I personally reckon that if not for a handful of people, I would still be in that place.

If I had to some 2017 up in a word, I'd probably use refinement. When I came into this year, I thought I'd end it with a wife. I thought I'd have answers to riddles and mysteries. I thought a great deal. It's felt like 2017 has been a transition. A year for me to figure out how much all my effort and sacrifice has paid off, and potentially how much more effort I still need to put in. 

We've all been hurt, we've all believed the wrong thing, loved the wrong person, followed the wrong path, made that life changing mistake. I myself I have had all of that happen this past year, or have been dealing with the aftermath. These experiences help make us how we are. They define us. But; I think it's sometimes forgotten that we CHOOSE how they define us. 

I've made mistakes, I've fallen and stumbled, I've strayed from paths I shouldn't, I've hurt, and been hurt. I've been someone I'm not proud of many times. But to quote the French, c'est la vie, or, that's life. No one gets 100% at life. Some get it more right than others, but no one gets full marks. But what we can all do is look at those mistakes, recognise them for what they are and reshape them to our advantage.

Now; yes. It's also possible to not make any mistakes and still lose. That's not a weakness. Not unless you make it one. We've all had bad experiences beyond our control. Be it someone or something else. But remember; you get to decide how that defines you. A bad relationship doesn't mean you should close yourself off to love, a failed ambition doesn't mean you should hold yourself back from success, an unwise leap of faith doesn't mean you should stop just giving things a go. 

If you're upset, or angry, don't try and pass it onto or direct it at others. Revenge is tempting, but never rewarding. Someone asked me once why I try to be optimistic, why I try and show compassion on everyone. I'll be honest, I wasn't always that way. But I got hurt. Badly. Those who read the old blog will know that. And I said to myself, you can use everything that's happened in two ways. Let it take you in one of two directions. You can either take all that rage and pain and scream at the world with it, or you can let it help you find serenity, let it help you become someone who helps, not hurts. Repairs, not destroys. I promised myself that day that I wouldn't let myself become the monster that had hurt me. I would be better, I would be more than just my anger and pain.

And if you've had bad experiences, and I reckon you all have, use them. Run with them. Make your past your sword and shield as you run into the future. Let the bad moments help you make good moments going forward. Let the good moments help you make great moments. I think if we all do that, if we all move forward and try each day to better than the day before, we'll all be trying to build the best possible version of ourselves. Our lives are our own. They will be what we want them to be. We can be whatever we want to be. Archaeologist, physicist, accountant, geologist, biologist, historian, inventor, mechanic, author, chemist, pilot, nurse, teacher, architect. If we, day by day, work to better ourselves, we can work wonders. So love, laugh, dream, cheer, grow, pursue, challenge yourself. Be afraid so you can be brave. 

Have an amazing 2018

Safety, peace and love

Connor