Nope. That’s not a typo.
Goodbye, 2024, the year of fear.
What were your biggest fears of the year?
Natural disasters?
Election results?
Wars?
School shootings?
Flying in a 737?
Diddy parties?
Gas prices?
Eggs?
Rights over our bodies and our beliefs?
Eek. Lots to unpack there, right?
Yet, guess what? If you’re reading this, you survived.
We made it.
We got through the biggest headlines of the year
and
We overcame the obstacles that inevitably came our way in our individual lives.
Fear.
A small 4-letter word with a big impact.
It literally kept the world turning this year.
But what is fear?
The Oxford Dictionary defines fear as
“an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain or a threat.”
I mean, if that doesn’t describe 2024, I don’t know what does.
And yet, here we are. Staring down the path towards 2025.
I faced some of the biggest fears of my life in 2025.
Losing a job.
Starting a company.
Caring for a sick parent.
Realizing and accepting lost friendships.
Letting go and grieving relationships that weren’t meant to be.
Walking into the beginning of the end of parenting young children.
I faced these fears—some with grace, some not so much. The point is that I faced the fears.
I didn’t bury my head in the sand. I didn’t drink it away. I didn’t run away. I didn’t try to hide them.
I faced them. I spoke to them. I spoke about them. I accepted them.
And then, a funny thing happened. I wasn’t as fearful anymore.
Sure, a huge hurricane heading in your direction will likely strike fear in the boldest of hearts. Being sucked out of an airplane window at 40,000 feet clearly is not in anyone’s plan. War, terrorism, shootings - those acts equal unimaginable fear along with grief and anger.
But facing the fear is the key. Accepting the possible outcomes without knowing for sure what will actually happen oddly lessens the fear.
The true element that I discovered in 202fear is feeling the fear.
So, I mourned career changes, loss of relationships, the fact that my dad may never get better, and accepting outcomes that I never dreamed possible.
I sat with the emotion. Remember, the definition of fear is, first and foremost, an emotion.
I learned to sit with the fear and feel it. I cried it out. Sometimes, I screamed it out. I meditated through it a lot. Sometimes, I sat on the floor, willing myself never to get up.
But then I did get up.
I tapped into my inner strength & my spiritual strength and found a way through.
I won’t mourn 2024 for too long. I will release it quickly.
And let us not forget that some pretty awesome things happened in 2024, too.
The eclipse.
The Olympics.
Brat summer.
Elmo checking in on us.
Wicked.
The End of an Era (Taylor’s version)
Don’t forget to reflect on the good things that happened in our own lives.
A family reunion.
Summer concerts.
Reconnecting with a friend.
Making a new friend.
Bonfires.
Christmas lights.
As I look forward to 2025, I know I will face more fears. There are plenty of unknowns that we can already see coming.
The difference that 2024 has made in my life is how I face the fear.
For the future ahead of us, I wish you growth, comfort, peace, and the power to face your own fears as you move forward. You can do it. I know you can.
Till next time -
Xo,
Bridgette
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