Reflection & New Year Goals
Happy New Year! And Welcome to 2020!
As a clinician working with a range of clients and families, I enjoy sharing pieces of my own life’s journey, my experiences and how I manage hardships, challenges and successes. Everyone has their own unique story to tell, each filled with experiences that shape our lives. By sharing a little bit about my own story, I aim to provide advice or guidance to others, in moments where they may feel isolated or alone. It’s important to remember, especially in this day and age with curated social media feeds, that we all go through the ups and downs of life and that you should never compare someone else's highlight reel to your own.
As we move into the New Year, I reflect on 2019, my life and set new goals for the year ahead. This process can bring an array of emotions to the surface. Like most people, I made a 12-month plan in January 2019. I had various ideas of how the year was personally going to pan out, what I was hoping for and where I wanted to be by the end of 2019.
So in reflection, what did 2019 look like for me? Truthfully, nothing like I had originally envisioned or planned.
I have had many peaks and troughs in every aspect of my life over the last 12 months, that challenged me in more ways than one. This pushed my personal growth exponentially and allowed for both personal and professional opportunities to flourish. Some opportunities that I never in my wildest dreams ever thought were possible. This year was a true reminder that all of our experiences, good or bad, are a part of our journey, setting us up for bigger and better opportunities in the future.
I am very thankful for 2019, I have gained so much this year. I want to personally thank you all for being a part of this journey with me. You all inspire and push me to be a better person and help shape me in ways you would never think possible. I am so grateful and humbled to be supporting and building such a strong community within the Hunter Valley region. What we do at Explore & Soar day in, day out all starts with you.
However, as grateful as I am for the year that was, my life has not always been filled with successes and rewards - having reached rock bottom more than a few times in my life. Along with a great deal of work and some significant challenges, 2019 was filled with lots of rewards for me personally. And whilst I have enjoyed many wonderful things in the year that has been, many years of lessons and hardships have led me to this very fortunate point.
It all began when I landed my paediatric occupational therapy job and I first started my career within this occupation. I learnt very quickly where my passion for the industry would lie. Growing up in a small town of my own, the local community was indeed my biggest supporter and got me through many tough years as a teenager. My drive, motivation and passion then and now is giving back to small communities, supporting local children and families. I want to empower and educate families in our community in order to reach their true potential, bringing new services and opportunities to places where they haven’t always been easily accessible. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that paediatric occupational therapy would save my life…. But it did. It gave me strength, purpose, opportunity and happiness.
However, if you are living in a heightened state of constant anxiety, with little to no awareness of yourself and others, it is really hard to successfully achieve this goal. Add to this a sense of insecurity and self-consciousness and you are presented with a number of limitations - all of which I had to personally face.
Whilst spending my days teaching children and families about the sensory systems, emotional regulation, body movements and self-awareness, it left me no choice but to look at myself and learn about my own triggers, emotions and behaviours and how they were impacting my daily life. My own self-care strategies and relationships with family and friends came into focus.
So here are some of the many realisations that I have had as a result of working as an OT:
I have had to become more self-aware; ultimately leaning to move out of shutdown or a heightened state of anxiety to become more conscious of my body, what it likes and what it reacts to - good or bad.
I have had to develop a greater sense of self-regulation; I had to relearn how to feel and process emotions again to support my ability to self-regulate.
When you shutdown the above two points, it then impacts your social interactions so I had to relearn social nuances when engaging with friends, co-workers and people in the community.
Body awareness; core strength, posture endurance and control of my movements, such as moving on the sporting field vs home etc.
So what do these realisations and sense of continued self-development mean for me now?
I am grounded, regulated and can tend to activities with increased detail for a longer period of time.
I understand what it takes to work on yourself, the time and energy it takes to change a behaviour, such as learning how to regulate an emotional such as anger, sadness, excitement etc
I am a better clinician and have a true understanding of what it means to address and work through personal goals
I have greater emotional intelligence, an awareness of what I need and an ability to communicate without being afraid to ask for help.
I have a wide range of knowledge and experience working with other allied health services to support me in conjunction with OT, to help achieve my goals. I know what works for me and what doesn’t. I now only recommend strategies that I have tested myself. In doing so, I can now give the right advice to the individual at hand.
So my message for you in 2020 is to not be afraid to set yourself goals. Maybe shift the goal posts or try again if you didn’t quite achieve what you wanted 2019, it’s never too late. But most of all, don’t be afraid to ever ask for help because you are never alone. We all have our own story and journey to walk in this lifetime.
In 2020 I am looking forward to working further with our children and families, to help everyone be the best versions of themselves that they can be. I am not afraid to talk mishaps, life experiences or work through difficult problems. We are all in this together. I cannot wait to hear about your 2020 goals and plans, but most of all, don't be afraid to ask for help or share your stories this year. You are not alone and you have more people in your corner than ever before.