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For our family, 2017 was an amazing year.
It was my daughter’s first year at primary school, and my 3 year old boy started Kindergarten. They both LOVED it. They thrived and learned and grew as human beings – it’s been amazing to watch.
My husband continued his daily job like a machine, whilst fixing up the house at the end of the day (when he could). He was also amazing at looking after the kids on the weekend. I am beyond grateful for all he does and he really excelled this year – we really are a great team.
Then there was me. I had a pretty amazing year – I was on the Anika Moa show, the Cafe, The AM Show AND I recorded a voice ad for the radio, got to travel to Wellington for an event AND SO MUCH MORE. I worked with some great brands, met new and amazing people; and I got to give away some phenomenal prizes to you guys.
Don’t get me wrong, I feel very blessed to have had the year I had, but I still struggled.
I struggled a lot with my weight, and it’s taken me almost a whole year to finally do something about it – boot camp. Boot camp and eating better has truly changed my life and for that I am grateful.
I also struggled with social media.
The things that happened on social media really f’ked with me, and I’ve shed a lot of tears.
From having rumours spread about me, to people actively being assholes to my face; it was a bit stressful for me at times.
I’ve learned a lot of lessons though: stop engaging. There’s no reasoning with people who have made their minds up about you. It’s hard, but true.
My way of processing is to talk it out. I tend to over explain to get my point across, but it became clear that people didn’t want to hear that.
So I had to learn to stop talking about it. In fact, I had to turn my messaging system off on Facebook because I never knew if I was going to receive a message in support, or a nasty message. The nasty messages were not common but still – it caused me anxiety knowing they might come.
I now actively won’t stand for unkind or nasty messages on my social media posts. I’m all for having an opinion and I love that we have different ones, but if people can’t use kind words to express themselves then there is no place for them on my page.
I also learned a very hard lesson about people in the social media industry – they will pretty much believe anything they hear or read that backs up their own thinking about me (or anyone).
None of what is said about me has been true, yet a whole bunch of people love to jump on it and believe it’s true.
It’s been heart breaking.
I love what I do here on the internet but sadly people can be very unkind at times.
Thankfully I have an amazing support team behind the scenes – my husband does struggle to understand the whole social media world but offers solid advice, which is always backed up by my incredible friends. Phil and my friends offer me a perspective I can’t see, and I will never ever forget them for being by my side.
They’ve been instrumental in helping me cope, and the poor people have to listen to me bitch and moan more than most.
So I have learned a lot in 2017, and I plan on growing from it; I’m looking forward to seeing what 2018 brings for myself, my family, and for Happy Mum Happy Child.
My skin is getting thicker – trust me! This whole experience is helping be stronger and more resilient, and has shown me who my true friends are.
I thank you all for your continued support, it will always be truly appreciated.
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