This decade I have…

I happened to be reading Zoella’s article on a “backward bucket list” and I thought it was such an excellent exercise for reflection that I decided to work my way through the exercise of beginning a statement with the phrase “This decade I have…” and each word listed below.  It’s quite a beautiful exercise because it forces you to think wider than the tunnel vision that we automatically generate that’s focused on the present moment in time.  It challenged me to think a bit and definitely required a little bit of long-term memory recall.  This decade I have:

…started…

..this blog!  Can you believe I started Arum Lilea back in December 2012?  I feel like this time has flown by so quickly but so, so much has happened and I love that I’ve documented so much through this blog.  From life to personal style, it’s incredible to see the evolution that’s happened in the past 8 years.  I also started my YouTube channel to document all the fun I get up to and I cherish every memory recorded in my videos.  I’m also really proud of the fact that I launched the Arum Lilea Collection, which is a collection of dresses I’ve designed which you can shop here.

…visited…

…over twenty countries! England, France, Spain, Italy, Monaco, Hungary, Czech Republic, Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Croatia, Montenegro, Wales, Thailand, America, The Bahamas, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Macau and Mauritius.  Each one, utterly sensational.  Some, i.e. America, I’ve travelled to four times this decade.

…learnt…

…so many life lessons.  One these lessons was actually thanks to Ryan.  From him, I learnt that life must be balanced: there must be a time for hard work and a time for play.  This was huge for me as I was always narrowly focused on studying to the point that everything else suffered.  Now I maintain a lifestyle with my time divded between physical exercise, work, family time and time with friends which is far healthier than it was in the past.  I wrote a blog post which you can read here for more of my thoughts on the importance of this topic.

…tried…

…boxing.  I think I broke a bone because my hand still hurts in the same spot as it hurt the day I tried boxing.  No, I won’t be trying that again thank you.  I value my piano playing far too much.

…eaten…

No red meat and I’ve even progressed to a plant-based lifestyle and I’m all for it.  It’s so much better for your health and for the health of our environment so it’s an obvious choice really.

…given…

…my heart away.  I became a girlfriend in 2013 and then was promoted to fiancée in 2018 lol.  At the dawn of the new decide, I will transition again into a wife.  It’s been the most incredible journey so far and we still have so many chapters to write.  If you’d like to find our more about our story and how Ryan proposed, you can read that here.  You can also find our wedding planning updates here.

…read…

…so many books.  I love to read.  If you also love to read, I’d definitely recommend you take a look at my latest round up of book reviews.  You’ll definitely find something to add to your reading list.

…lost…

…my grandma.  It was devastating losing her.  After my mom passed away when I was eleven, she took the reigns as the motherly figure in the lives of my sister and I, having already played such a strong role as a grandmother.  She was an exceptional woman and her death was and still is a great cause of sorrow, however, I’m so grateful that she had such a long and beautiful life.

…achieved…

…quite a lot academically.  I completed my LLB cum laude.  I completed my LLM cum laude.  I wrote all my board exams and was admitted as an attorney and a notary public of the high court of South Africa.

…discovered…

…that I actually love to exercise.  I absolutely hated physical training at school.  The idea of sport still repells me to be totally honest with you, however, I’ve come to love the process of plugging in my headphones and zoning out to my favourite music for an hour of the day while I sweat out all my frustrations.  Mentally, I feel so much happier for it.  What a mood booster!

…let go of…

…relationships that added no value to my life.  I’ve also let go of negative people that made me feel heavy after spending time with them.  Don’t get me wrong, I truly believe in supporting people you love through tough times, but you get some people that choose to view life as a whole negatively and I found myself having to mentally prep to be around people like this so that it would not affect my overall happiness.  In the end I decided it was rather worth letting go.  I rather choose to be around people who want to enjoy life and fill it with positivity.

…been proud of…

…the fact that I survived and fully recovered from my stroke.  While I’m proud of my academic acheivements, I’m without a doubt proudest of this achievement.  Considering I could not read or walk a flight of stairs after it happened, to have made a 100% recovery is something I will never take for granted.  It took a lot of work to get me back to 100% and there were plenty tears along the way, but I did it, together with a great medical team, my family and my fiancé.  Here’s a more detailed post on this achievement.

This decade I have really and truly done so much.  The past ten years have shown so much growth and development that it’s quite remarkable.  Now into the next decade, it will be starting off with a bang. Within the first two months of the decade I will be 30 and a married woman.  It’s going to be a great decade for sure!  Thank you so much for reading.  Let me know what you’ve done this decade below! xxx