Lessons from 2022

Hi, it’s been a while since I posted here. I have to warn you this is not a post about travel or any of my adventures from 2022. 🙂

It’s the end of the year and I have been reflecting on everything that happened in 2022 . What a ride! This year was difficult and tested my resilience and faith but at the same time it helped me get clarity on what is truly important to me. I went thru periods of deep sadness and grief, but also had many times full of joy, friendship, family time, love and support. As it says in Ecclesiastes 3, there is a time for everything.

Our family changed forever when my sister Frances passed away in early February; I never imagined this was a possibility even though I knew there were risks as she was going thru her 2nd bone marrow transplant. I had faith she would recover as she did in 2018. God had a different plan for her.

Her passing rocked my world and made me reevaluate everything I thought was important. It turns out I was wasting valuable time on unimportant things and neglecting important ones. It also made it very painfully clear how fragile and short life is. I have many lessons that came from Frances passing and that shaped the rest of 2022 for me. Today I want to share the top 2 lessons I take with me from 2022.

Lesson #1: Things don’t always work out as planned and that is ok.

I was supposed to be moving to Taipei in early 2022 (March) to start a 2 year expat assignment. I was so excited! It was a dream of mine to live in a foreign country for a few years and I was finally going to check that off my bucket list… but it was not the right time to leave. I chose to cancel the expat assignment and stay close to my family (or at least be in the same hemisphere) so I could travel to PR frequently to provide support and comfort to my family. And you know what, it all worked out. I had one of the best years in my career at Intel. Was I disappointed not to move? Sure. Would I make the same decision again given the circumstances? Absolutely. Family first. I know the right time will come for me to live in a foreign country and have that experience.

Lesson #2: “Later” might not happen, so spend your NOW doing the things that are meaningful to you

Travel is healing to me. So I traveled a lot in 2022. I came to PR at least 4 times in 6 months, I did the Camino de Santiago (You can find some of my adventures in other posts in this blog), spent 1 extra week in Madrid; We had a fantastic vacation with 19 members of my family in Arizona in November; I took a short trip to Amsterdam in early December and I am back in PR for the holidays. During the summer I spent a lot of time hiking and being outdoors. It was great to be in nature, enjoy the scenery and my friends. In 2022 I also made a point of connecting and spending time with the people I care about. I made sure to tell them that I love them. At work, I made sure I expressed my gratitude and appreciation to my team. I believe when you share love and gratitude unconditionally ( not expecting anything back from that person), love multiplies and eventually comes back to you in some way. ❤️ Also, life is too short not to do this. What am I waiting for? Later might not happen.

So 2022 kicked my butt, knocked me down a few times, but did not defeat me. I KNOW and TRUST God has a good plan for me. I am standing strong, at peace, and ready to travel, have fun and enjoy 2023 just as Frances would have done.

My wish for the new year is that we have health, love, peace AND that we make the time to enjoy the first 3.

Happy new year! Ana

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 – A time for everything

1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

² a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.