What made 2022 a special year.

2022 has been a short year for me because time does fly when you are fully involved in what you do. What did I do that makes me feel that this has been a good year?

Above all, I prioritized owning my time. I repeat this ad nauseam because it gives me the flexibility to shape my life the way I want it. It gives me the freedom to refuse or outsource what I don’t want to handle and the ability to focus on what I am interested in doing.

Like paying more attention to my health. I will always remember 2022 as The Year I Started Walking. What commenced as a ‘side activity’ led to longer walks and morphed into a fitness routine. My posture and general health were in tatters after years of sitting in front of a computer. From an unhealthy skinny, I’m stronger and more toned today. The journey continues.

I said ‘no’ more often. I started questioning whether I was doing anything worthy with my life or simply indulging in some activity because ‘everyone does it’. I said no to time-consuming social activities and acquaintances. Instead, I spent time strengthening shared bonds with friends and the wonderful people who have added value to my life. I focused on fewer projects and learned more than I would have had I flitted from one task to another. I worked directly with poor people and this has given me a far greater understanding of poverty than reading multiple white papers on that topic ever have.

The highlight was multiple encounters with Nature, animals and birds. Those moments deserve a post of its own but here are some memorable one: stumbling upon a fawn and feeling something I haven’t felt since I was a kid (a sense of wonder would be too tepid a description); seeing a bunch of gold finches decorating a tree like bright yellow stars and feeling wildly alive; surprising a furtive fox; seeing a snake and feeling awe, not fear; and more birds. I clicked many bird pictures this year. Most were bad. One of the better ones is published with this post.

Has 2022 been perfect? Of course not. It had its ups and downs, as every year does, and that was part of its charm. What made it better was going with the flow rather than swimming against the current and finding solutions that best served my needs rather than being in a space where I am forced to depend on someone else to make decisions that affect my life. And this wonderful place—where I am fully in control of my life decisions, my income, my everything—is what made 2022 so special and will make the coming years special too.

Creating special years is in our hands. It takes effort but once you start creating experiences more consciously, life becomes so much more rewarding. Why don’t you start designing more special years for yourself too?