2021 has been quite the year. Our team sat down to chat about what lessons we’re taking away from 2021 and bringing into 2022. In this week’s episode, Krystal shares a few of these thoughts and sentiments.
Think meditation is hard? Do me a favor: take a slow, deep breath in and now breathe out. Congratulations! You just meditated. Hi, I’m Krystal Jakosky and this is Breathe In, Breathe Out: a Weekly Mindfulness and Meditation Podcast for anyone ready to own their own shit…and find a little peace while doing it.
Hello and welcome back to Breathe In, Breathe out. I’m Krystal and holy crap – what a year. This has been here. We are at the end of the summer and we have all survived 2021. This year has been a doozy. We’ve had weddings, so many weddings and engagements for unions. Job changes. Even in my life – we’ve had closing down of businesses and starting new businesses. I know of people who have had births. Can’t tell you how many people we’ve lost to death.
Every year has its ups and downs. Yet, for some reason, this year 2021 just seems somehow bigger, just more weighty, stressful. And yet I’m a big proponent for looking back and seeing what did we learn? What did we succeed at? How did we do in the last year? And then what can we carry forward into the next year? So here at Krystal Jakosky, we sat down and we chatted about what lessons we’re taking away from 21 and into 22.
So we’ve narrowed it down to 21 things that we learned in 2021. And I’m excited to share them with you. The first one is how somebody reacts to you expressing your needs is none of your concern. You just expressed what you need, which is true and reality for you, and how they feel about it really doesn’t matter. They can be upset. They can be frustrated. It doesn’t matter. You have a need and you have expressed it to be filled and taken care of and loved and nourished. And I am so proud of you for doing that. And everybody else can go suck a rotten egg. Number two is I can do hard things that I am stronger than. I think now this is mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually. Think of all of the ways in the last year that you have accomplished a really difficult task and you have been stronger.
You have grown more than you ever thought possible. I’m so proud of you. Number three, inspiration does not always strike when you want it to. We can dive in and we can hope to achieve great things. And yet that inspiration is going to come when it wants to come. And it might be in the middle of a very inopportune time. And yet it’s going to come when it is ready. When you are ready to receive it and act upon it. Number four, some days you will accomplish absolutely nothing. And that is okay. You may have a list. You may be a super productive person that has so much that you need to get done. And yet one day nothing happens. And that is all right. I encourage you to chalk that up as a success that you made it through the day and now you get to start tomorrow. Fresh.
Number five self-care is essential. 2021 is what we dedicated. And so many other people dedicated to the year of self-care to really learning what you need and how to meet it, how to take care of yourself, exploring the limitless possibilities of what works for you, because what works for you doesn’t necessarily work for the other person. And there’s also a podcast earlier that we did about the common myths of self-care. And the other side of self-care, having those hard conversations self-care is really seriously an essential part of living and making it through life. Number six, there will always be those people, the ones who don’t like your message, the ones who are inappropriate and looking to rile you up, the ones that would rather discredit you than actually be interested in who you are – in the words of Taylor Swift – haters gonna hate.
So shake it off, allow your cheerleaders to drown those people out. You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, and there’s still going to be somebody who hates peaches. That was vetted on tests. Number seven. I’m a little bit better today than I was yesterday. Love me a little bit better today. No matter what’s happening on the exterior, I am a lovable, amazing human being. Number eight. I’ve learned that making changes can sometimes take a lot of time and a lot of practice. The programming that made us who we are today has been in the works for years, and it can take just as long to rewrite it. Be patient, hang in there and keep making those choices to help make that change happen. Number nine, always have a backup. I am talking everything here and I mean this toilet paper, toothpaste, your favorite snack, chocolate, and your hard drive.
Seriously, do not forget to backup your hard drive, having other files somewhere, make sure that if yours crashes, you can still get to the data. Number 10, recognize your cycles. Patterns: become aware of them. You have the ability to change the negative ones, the ones that you don’t like and embrace, and just expand the ones that you do. Like number 11, it’s easy to teach what we learn. The challenge is actually implementing it into your own life. Practicing what you preach. Number 12, I might not be what I want to be right now, but I have the ability to change and achieve it. Number 13, growing a business happens in its own time and in its own way, you can nurture and nudge it along. And yet pushing is only going to bring you frustration. Number 14, not every relationship is going to work out.
You start with the best intentions and yet staying true to yourself and your values. Knowing where you stand is what will keep you centered and focused. Some relationships are just going to break your heart and you’re going to have to find your way through it. Number 15, I am going to forget some of my tools and I am going to need to be reminded. I’m going to struggle with change. I’m going to push too hard. I’m going to push too long and I’m going to burn out. There are going to be moments that I am not okay. And that is perfectly okay. Someone will remind me that I need a little self-care and I’ll get back on track and everything is good. Number 16, I can be imperfect. I get to make mistakes. I get to learn from them. I’m human. It is a part of this beautiful process.
Number 17, some days I am going to ugly cry. And when I’m done ugly crying, I am going to take a nap and I am going to feel so much better for it. Number 18, gardening is a lot more work and way more rewarding than I ever thought. Number 19 puppies, parenting, and adulting can be like being pecked to death by a chicken. It’s painful with a note of what the heck is going on here. Number 20 laughter truly is the best medicine. It’s fun to be obnoxious and silly and revert a little into that. Cheeky, childlike joy and 21 people being unique means that our lives are a rainbow. Our lives are bright, beautiful, and rare. Every one of us is so bright, beautiful, and rare. We’re all so unique and have so much to offer each other. And we can learn so much from each other. I’m really excited to look for the gold. Take a moment for yourself. Look back. What have you learned in 2021? What would you add to this list? Or what would you start as your own list of all of the amazing things that you learned this last year? Here is to an amazing 2022 with more growth, more joy, more puppies and chickens and backups and chocolate, and just lessons where we get to learn and grow and be even better. Human beings, take care of yourselves. And I’ll see you again in 2022.
I hope this moment of self-care and healing brought you some hope and peace. I’m @krystaljakosky on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube and I hope you check us out and follow along for more content coming soon. I look forward to being with you again, here on Breathe In, Breathe Out. Until next time, take care.
