I've always loved setting goals for myself before the beginning of a new year. However, last year ended on a hectic note, and generally, I couldn't think of anything more I could possibly want out of life, or at least anything 'new' to want out of life.
I've set financial goals for myself in previous years that I've seen myself surpass. I've always felt like I would require only a single path to achieve certain goals but I've realised that the path to achieving a goal isn't always the path we envision. So moving forward, I've become more flexible with my goals.
Image taken by me
While I believe that happiness cannot be gained only from achievements alone, what would give me the most happiness this year would be visas to a few countries. I've wanted this for the longest time, and it has been my goal for the past five years at least. However, this time around, it feels a lot closer than it used to be.
Getting this would finally give my life the stability I've been craving for a long while now. It almost feels like I've been hanging and not entirely living the life I fully want to live because of this. Yes, i've gotten married and it might seem like I've achieved a level of comfort (and I have) but I still don't feel like I'm fully in my own home.
Secondly, I mentioned "visas" because I'm long overdue for a vacation. I was discussing with my husband and I realised he has the same desires. Our year would be made extremely beautiful if we got to visit a tourist location like Zanzibar or maybe a nice location in Europe where I can see the Northern lights, and then visit China afterwards coz that has always been his dream.
My main desire has initially always been to leave Nigeria and properly start my life but on second thought, I decided I'd love to have a period of rest before getting deep into life and the journey ahead of me with raising children and starting my little family. I need some time for myself and I guess some period of quiet with my husband. Although we spend most of our time together within the same space, we know a change of environment would do us a whole lot of good.
A lot of people who leave Nigeria tend to only think about just leaving to work until they can achieve stability to simply keep working and maintain the stability, but I don't want to fall into that loop. I know life gets real once you leave and start hustling for that stability and then going on these vacations just becomes impossible. I want to actually enjoy this life to the fullest before kids come into the picture.
If this year goes according to plan, there's a huge chance that we might have these things. We might get our vacations and finally move out of the country. We're working hard enough to make these a reality and as they say "fortune follows the brave" so we'll see how it all works out. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and simply doing the best I can.
To conclude, my year would be made a beautiful year with some stamps on my passport.