I can’t quite believe 2018 is already nearly over. More than 31.5 million seconds have tick-tocked, transferring their unfulfilled potential into the secure achievement of the past.
It hasn’t all been easy, but here are seven of the more mind-blowing things that have happened for me in 2018, some of which I’ve written about before:
- Finding Frisbee, and all the friends I’ve made through Ultimate in London, Bristol and Athens.
- Travelling overland through Europe to Greece, then volunteering with refugees, eating falafel, and gazing at the stars.
- Thighs of Steel, both cycling Ljubljana to Sofia in the summer and joining the organising team for 2019.
- Writing an application for a postgraduate degree course, and another for an adventure internship. I don’t know why it took me so long to realise, but writing applications is a wonderful way of clarifying what I want with skin in the game.
- Spending time with family and friends: family reunions in Oxon and the Isle of Wight, living with close friends in Bristol, meeting new friends – and new family!
- Walking in the wilds of Scotland, Wales and Dartmoor, taking my first steps into a new professional sideline.
- Reading and writing. As you know, I’ve read some spectacular books this year. Writing the second series of Foiled was a blast, and my Happy Friday newsletter has been a constant spring of inspiration.
So what’s next? Here are seven things I’d like to be grateful for in 2019:
- Starting to earn some of my corn in the G.O.D. (Great Out Doors). Professionally, I’d like to spend less time typing at a computers, in a city, on my own.
- Growing an audience for whatever it is that I write about, particularly through public speaking and events.
- More transcendence: more meditation, more psychedelics, more awe in nature.
- Going on another awesome trip like this summer’s Greece and Thighs of Steel combo.
- Spending more time with family and friends. You can never get enough of this. It’s important, so I’ve got a spreadsheet.
- Doing my damnedest to make Thighs of Steel 2019 a success, while growing our network of adventurous and compassionate souls.
- I’ll leave this last one blank for something unexpected. Maybe series three of Foiled going to TV, maybe finding a more scholarly outlet for my psychology interests, maybe something else totally unforeseen.
2018 has been a year of waking up. Stand by for 2019!