My best newsletter of the year (part three)

Our thankful list, continued / Issue 1,348

Oh, hi friends!

I asked you to finish this sentence:

This year, I’m thankful I finally decided to…

My mind is as full as my stomach after reading this final batch of anecdotes, big moves, and life-changing decisions from all of you.

Answers spanned from career to personal projects, feats of endurance and wells of deep belief. Thank you for taking the time to answer and read these — this is my new favorite Thanksgiving tradition.

This year, Brass Ring Daily readers are thankful they finally decided to…

• Jump into a workplace role that is hard-hard and where I can make real cultural change — pushing our leaders to do better at disability inclusion.

• Lean into the fact that I no longer have a strict morning routine. For years (decades?), I thought I had to do something productive — exercise, write, meditate — first thing or the day would be a wash. Turns out, that's not true. I also leaned into my desired early bedtime without as much self-judgment (I'm missing the parties! The shows! The Instagram scroll!). The combination has me sleeping better-ish than I have in a while. 

• Go see Book of Mormon. I won $25 tickets to see the touring Broadway show. They were the best seats in the theater. Such a fun show.

• Exercise daily. Sometimes it gets crazy with a toddler and other life things, but even a short workout is better than nothing. I've got a pretty good streak going.

• Finish my musical, raise five figures, and produce an industry reading...and then not feel bad about resting after!

• Run a half marathon. I failed my first attempt in March and then completed a half in October. I've got another half on the calendar for March 2024. I needed the failed attempt to execute some drive, ambition, and a goal.  

• Leave my job and go rogue! I mean, go freelance :) I am a single adoptive mother and I needed to be more available for my daughter, plus COVID turned my head and I knew I couldn't work like before anymore. I needed to be more in control of my life and not constantly ask others for permission to live. 

• Give up on dating! That may sound sad, but it was a source of stress. Feeling like I had to find that perfect someone. Like I had to act and look a certain way. Now I just focus on what's here right now and my core priorities. If someone cool comes along, great. If not, great. 

• Book a Launch the Plane session with you — it gave me the nudge I needed to share my musical — I had my first reading this past weekend! 

• Start therapy.

• Put myself out there and let my book proposal into the world, it allowed me to receive the book contract of my dreams.

• Stop saying yes to everyone and everything! I am practicing saying “yes” the most to my partner, my one-year-old, and myself. I’m still a work in progress, but there’s a noticeable difference in my joy, my peace, and my ability to show up for my family. 

• Have the courage to trust in the unseen.

• Dig in and finish the second draft of my mystery novel. My first readers are sending me feedback right now and…it’s good, helpful feedback I can use to make the next draft better. 

• Studying and practicing Zen, and teaching yoga! Twelve years ago I decided I wanted to teach. I'm wrapping up my first year and it has been incredibly rewarding and transformational. Stepping away from Catholicism and following my true path through Zen has been an awakening experience as well. Grateful and blessed!

• Purchase better quality food to cook at home. Now we consistently eat more salads, and a greater variety of healthy foods. 

• Be better about reaching out! I used to worry that reaching out to friends would be annoying to them, but then thought they wouldn't be my friends in the first place! So I have initiated a lot more social events to see people and it has been so good!

• Travel to Ireland! It's been my lifelong dream to visit Ireland, and the fact that I got to do it with my spouse for our honeymoon made it even sweeter. 

• Getting medicaid. It has completely changed my life. Realizing I'm neurodivergent and how my brain works was huge. I was able to understand why some things that work for everyone else just don't work for me. And then getting my brain chemistry more balanced made me realize I had anxiety I didn't even know I was dealing with because I managed it so well. Taking this step was the first domino in a very good path for me.

• Train for the LA Marathon and launch my own Substack newsletter — First Pressing — in part inspired by Brass Ring Daily! 

• Stop being late for appointments. 

• Invest in my friendships in the same way I would a romantic relationship. My friends have been my lifeline in my twenties (I'm 27) and those relationships won't stay close without mutual investment of time and care.

• Buy books I may only read once. I've read more books than I have in years and giving myself permission to buy these books took away the guilt of “I should go to the library” or “I should be reading more serious writing” etc. that actually prevents me from reading more rather than inspire me to do so. I like supporting authors making work I'd like to read and passing on the book to friends or strangers without trying to get them back! 

• Get my Irish driver's license! It wasn't easy!!

• Buy a new tennis racquet, take tennis lessons, and find time to play again. 

• This year, I'm grateful I finally decided to start telling people I am a writer without feeling that I am an imposter; it has been liberating. Imposter Syndrome has been the bane of my life, so I finally faced up to it and admitted what I feel inside. I AM A WRITER and I'm not embarrassed to say it.  

• Follow my twin sister to a new state to be near her and her daughter’s husband and new babies, bringing our family together.

• Say I am Jewish. Without shame. I feel the rising tide of antisemitism demands it of me. 

• Submit my PhD dissertation and just to move on to a new chapter in my life.

• Use a timer/alarm for completing tasks. It keeps me on point,  and I feel little wins throughout the day. (Even something as simple as 12 minutes to wash the dishes!)

• Respond to Kara’s request (here), and tell her how meaningful and motivational her newsletters are to me!!! Thank you. Grateful for all of you.

• Learn to swim, at almost 50! It's been exhilarating and so much simpler than I worried about. 

• Leave my first job (it took me a while to understand that it was JUST a job and not my career) and moved to Italy to start a new chapter of my life with my husband. It was a crazy year!

• Take my publishing business seriously. I've cut way back on freelance work that pays by the hour to build (and market!) a body of creative work, even though the payday comes later and slower. Worth it.

• Buy a violin! I have always wanted to learn to play, and this was the year I decided to make it happen. 

• Take charge of my health.

• Start therapy and give my inner child the attention she deserves.

• Transform the idea of writing a novel into writing a magazine and collaborating with other people, it's still a work in progress but it's more than I've ever done before. 

• Heal and restore the broken relationship with my dad, we're really good now and life feels better knowing that he's there.

• Dive head first into creating a new project called Dimanche and another one which has been +1 year in the making, I've learnt a lot about divine timing and being patient. 

• Journal!!! I wrote so, so much this year.

• Allowed myself to really celebrate the milestones I've accomplished with my newsletter.

• Move to France!!!!!! Crazy.

• Let go of the previous house and move onto newer and better experiences.

• Go to that concert, Olivia Dean you were so special.

• Visit my grandparents for the first time in too many years, they deserved that hug.

• Snowboard the hell out of that mountain and rediscover what panic attacks felt like, that was a BIG lesson this year. Not fun but so needed.

• Spend quality time with my friends, I've never had friends before and opening up to this new experience has been life-changing. 

• Connecting with people through the internet and building such a special community.

• I no longer expect others to say "thank you." I'm delighted when they do, but I accept that saying "thank you" is not a requirement.

• Start listening to my intuition.

• Quit my job and take the opportunity to focus on traveling.

• Get serious about engaging in my passions more, including professional passions. Reading about the person who found their way by switching jobs after nine years was so inspiring! I've been on a journey where I know I'll have to switch jobs, but I haven't quite gotten the motivation to do it. I'm happy that I finally decided to pursue my passions because it finally set me on this path — I've been doing professional development and taking on side projects and have finally grown the confidence for what's next!

• Leave my historical job, because it was not that stimulating to me anymore.

• Go back to school to work on my masters.

• I’m glad I finally decided to join Toastmasters this year to improve my public speaking skills and build my confidence. Little did I expect that after six months I would be asked to serve as club President! I enthusiastically accepted, and I’ve enjoyed taking on the tasks and responsibilities to serve members and encourage each other to learn and grow. Believe me, stepping up to speak in front of others is a very powerful forcing function for growth! Building confidence is a gradual process, built bit by bit each time we stretch ourselves, put ourselves out there, and are willing to risk failure. Scary, yes, but also fulfilling and life affirming. And really, is there any other way forward?

Read part one of our “thankful” list.
Read part two of our “thankful” list.

And to the person who said they are becoming a hospital chaplain, a commenter named Leslie recently made the same move and offered to be a resource or thought partner for you! (Here’s her comment.) Yayyy connections!

Off to eat leftovers. Love you all. <3

Sunset over Yucca Valley, gimme those pinks and blues.