Lessons From a Difficult Year

22 from 2022

2022 was my own personal hell. I spent it in a confusing and painful crescendo of failures, betrayals and fear. Everything I touched blew up in my face. It was only in the final week of 2022 that the ice started to melt. I won’t say I didn’t ask for it. I wanted my life to finally happen.

Five months into 2023 I have ended up on a track I’ve always dreamt of. I am embarking on a journey no one in my family has been fortunate enough to go on before me. I had to go through 2022 to arrive here. I made difficult decisions that left me isolated and in the dark; to quit clinical medicine and move to the other side of the world.

I believe I completed a cycle of the hero’s journey and learned lifetime lessons in gratefulness and self-reliance. There were some lessons, however, I did not expect to learn. I kept writing these down as I walked through hell. And am now compiling and publishing them, both as a personal reminder and in the hopes that they may resonate with others who are in need of guidance. Presented in no particular order, but limited to 22 :

1. it is absolutely vital to your survival to judge people. judge liberally and harshly.

2. there is no substitute for passion.

   everything else can be bought, mimicked, or learned.

3. life lies on the other side of fear.

   never take counsel of your fears.

4. the joy of the work is the only reward there really is.

   

   from the Bhagavad Gita

5. everyone deserves to be held accountable and responsible for their life. especially you.

6. patience is a two part process; letting your mind settle and knowing when it has settled. it is a superlative skill.

   

7. most people are insecure because they are fearful and selfish. these are qualities no one wants anyone to see in them, but these are qualities found in abundance.

8. finding your people is part and parcel of finding yourself. be mindful of yours and others’ time.

9. people believe what they feel. this means that you are free to be yourself.

10. struggling is a function of daring to dream.

11. find where your sincerity is.

12. be grateful for your responsibilities. these are opportunities to grow and prove yourself.

13. always better to remain silent.

14. jealousy is a disease of idleness.

15. forgiveness is an act of ablution.

16. be smart with your courage, for it will be rewarded. do not mistake anger for courage. courage is found in weakness, not reaction.

    

17. comfort is the enemy of success.

18. you will suffer for what you excuse.

19. hard work is animal nature. do not deprive yourself of it. (see points 14 & 7)

    

20. only betrayal is self betrayal.

21. feelings can never be wrong. value your body’s input.

22. no matter what, choose faith over fear. this is the only true fight there is. this is the fight of good and evil. choose good.

In conclusion, it’s just you and your dream at the end of the day. Nothing else matters. Be brave.