You know it’s December when you’re at your office job, bored out of your office mind, writing blog posts for the Twelve Letters of Lizmas.
It’s funny, I feel as if many people (besides those in retail; y’all are going through it right now but those paychecks probably are looking really nice) can agree on this: the holiday season is when most people take their annual leave for the holidays, the college semesters are coming to an end and public schools are getting ready for Christmas break. It’s just a very slow time for all of us here at The Registrar’s Office, so I figured why not kill some time by writing another installment of:
These posts only come once a year, like the holiday season.
I feel like as a society, our minds are constantly on getting through the holidays as smooth and cost-friendly as possible. As I get older, I realize more and more that the smartest way to get through the holiday season is to start your shopping early! Of course, it’s not always easy to put life on pause to get your Christmas shopping together, but as someone who gets paid bi-weekly, it requires a lot of planning on how to spend your money to make it to the next paycheck. For me, I finished my shopping after I decided that I was going to California for my 30th birthday this January. That’s truly been the ultimate task: getting the holiday stuff done while saving for a trip.
I’ve only ever been on a plane once in my life, and that was back in early 2020 to Florida. The only difference was that I went and stayed with a college friend, and it was a solo trip. So while it was my first trip outside of the tri-state area, I didn’t experience the full “travel trip” experience. This time around, I am traveling with another person and staying at a hotel! The actual preparation for this trip feels much different this time around; a big reason being that we’re doing all of this during the holiday season. Like, people actually do this? Book trips and travel during the holiday season? And have to buy gifts and all of that? I’m lucky that I’m just trying to save up for the gist of having to do things for the holiday season.
I feel like this post is going absolutely nowhere, but I feel like I say the same exact thing every time I write one of these rants.
…
Anyway, I’m excited for everything that’s yet to come this next year! In 2024, I will be turning 30, which is a pretty big deal for me. I feel like 29 has prepared me for what is yet to come in the next decade of my life. I don’t know how to explain it, but my 29th year has felt like a more life-altering experience than my previous years. I feel like at 29, I had to unlearn things that I’ve known for most of my life, and I really had to start doing things differently in different aspects of my life.
They say that 29 is your Saturn return, which in a nutshell means it’s a time in your life when you are faced with major challenges that ultimately transform you as a person. To some extent, I believe it.
I believe that the challenges and obstacles I faced earlier this year have helped me learn new ways to handle and practice conflict resolution in ways I normally wouldn’t have done in the past. In a professional setting, I’ve learned that the most efficient way to resolve a conflict is to always follow policy and stick to the facts… it’s only when things get nasty that you move it to a supervisor. Within my new position at the office, I am learning ways to handle conflict in the areas that I manage without the assistance of my boss; it’s just one of those things I want to master not as just a person in this position, but as someone who’s fight or flight response is forever triggered due to social anxiety. In a personal/social setting, I am learning that conflicts are conversations that need to be had, whether or not they are easy ones to have. Avoiding conflict will not make you a happier person, trust me; I’ve done it for years. Speaking up for yourself and knowing that there is potential for it to turn into a conflict or argument is just the process of it all. I’ve learned that when you do that and there’s conflict involved, sometimes you inevitably have to do what’s best for you if boundaries are not being respected and/or crossed.
That’s another thing, never bend your own boundaries. Even more so, you as a person shouldn’t cross your own boundaries! If you tell yourself that one of your boundaries is to give yourself space for some self-care, don’t go and make yourself available when you know you should be taking those self-care hours. If your cup is not filled enough to fill other people’s cups, then don’t try to fill up theirs first. It’s these tiny details in life that really help me learn what healthy boundaries look and feel like. This is always a work in progress, but I’ve definitely have gotten to a place where the outcome has been more positive the more I practice setting boundaries.
There’s still a lot I need to work on, and I think next year will be the year where I actually discipline myself to do things better and think more strategically as an adult needing to make more adult-like decisions. With that being said, I think this year has helped me grow much more than I thought I was going to, and I’m excited to explore life with this new outlook on life.
Okay, it’s nearing 4:30pm; time to get ready to clock out for the day!
Letters From Liz. 