At the end of every year, the Holy Spirit lays on my heart a word that usually guides the narrative of my life for the following year. My word for 2022 was ‘Perseverance’.
Perseverance means a steady persistence in a course of action or purpose especially despite difficulties, obstacles or discouragement.
Getting this word honestly gave me jitters because to me, that meant it would be a challenging year. And if you know me, I don’t like surprises! I embrace structure and predictability, which was the opposite of this word!
I wish I could say that I 100% meditated on the promises of God to walk with me through the challenges and trust that through the fire, he would create something new and beautiful. But I didn’t always do that, which opened my heart to a lot of anxiety which I had to work through.
2022 started on a high! After so many applications, I finally got a promotion which I wasn’t anticipating for the next few years! This was HUGE because I am currently one of the two black women in management positions within the company across the province! (Talk about shattering the glass ceiling!)
With the excitement came feelings of being an imposter and questioning if I could actually get the work done. Nonetheless, through resting in God’s promises, working with my coach and learning LOTS, I have been exposed to different opportunities that not only challenged me to explore areas outside my comfort zone, but also helped me recognize strengths and hobbies I knew nothing about! 2022 taught me the true meaning of ‘Doing it afraid’!
Regardless, I couldn’t take this do it afraid attitude to Disney land! LOL! Because you can’t pay me enough to take any ride! Haha! However, I enjoyed seeing imitations of places I had only seen in movies for the first time! And it was magical!
What turned out even more magical was passing one of my many MBA classes even after I lost all my work at the City’s public library when the computer timed out on me without any warning!!!!! Boy, did I need to persevere!!
And there the perseverance tale was set in motion; when I realized through a falling out that I had to re-train myself to be less rigid, when I had to keep the right attitude after discovering that my character was being slandered by someone who barely knew me, when my toddler began throwing full blown tantrums and when I lost very close loved ones..
Through all of these, two verses served as my anchor:
Be still and know that I am God
Psalm 46:10
Guard your heart above all else, for in it are the sources of life
Proverbs 4:23
Although it was difficult, I trusted that God understood the obstacles and challenges and through worship, prayer and self- reflection, I tried not to let what was happening harden my heart.
The take aways I had from 2022 are:
- Be kind, everyone is going through something
- The day you stop learning is the day you stop growing
- I’m blessed to have the people I have in my corner whom I can be vulnerable with without fear of judgment and discrimination
Although 2022 wasn’t all I would have ‘planned’ it to be, I believe that it was the season comparable to the turbulent and messy process of building a foundation. Now that the foundation is complete (hopefully. lol) I am looking forward in anticipation to what the new year would bring.
Cheers to a delightful 2023!
Akhere
