2023 - how's it been for you?

The good -

Got a decent pay rise.

The bad -

got destroyed by mortgage rate rises, so I'm even worse off than I was before the pay rise.

Roof of the house is leaking and I want to move as I can no longer deal with the busy road noise.

Got diagnosed with potential menierres disease, which is debilitating and progressively gets worse, until I loose my hearing.

Back pain all day every day.

So yeah, awesome, and I've only just turned 37.
 
rypt said:
2023 has been better than 2022, but overall I would say the whole period since Jan 2020 has sucked for me.

Here's to hopefully 2024 being as good as the pre-COVID era once again
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and to top it off - I get to spend this New Year the same way I spent last New Year - with the flu, and a high fever

(no, it's not COVID - I've done the test)
 
The Good :

Beginning of the year I finally got my old job back, the one I regretfully left behind several years back when we had to move back to the UK to be close to my partners sick family. It's difficult and stressful at times but I love it and pay is OK. Financially in a very good spot now after a bit of maneuvering the past few years.

Had a good year climbing, trained hard with no injuries. Some more 7a boulders, got my first E1, E2 and E3 trad leads, did a week of big mountain climbs in Morocco, got my first ice climbs in during a week in Norway. Weather been a bit crap in the UK and not got as much outdoor days as I'd like but overall a quality year.

Some good gigs and festivals. Finally saw PJ Harvey!

Health has been good, apart from lingering covid heart palpitations.

Reconnected with school friends, six of us at a festival from the same primary school class.

Starting to get to know some people locally, almost have fwends.

The Bad:

My best friend of the last 10 years died suddenly in August. Kinda overshadowed everything else.

But taking the positives from that, it spurred us on to do a lot of the things in the good column, especially reconnecting with old friends and making new ones.
 
Mixed year. On one hand I got a new job and was very lucky in some excellent acquisitions. Financially I'm pretty good and next year will hopefully be even better.

I'm fairly well liked and respected in my professional circle and I'll be focusing even more on this in new year.

Downside is that I'm definitely struggling a bit with purpose and meaning. Struggled with my faith a bit, I'm extremely undecisive with my girlfriend (she wants marriage and children ASAP as she is 33 year old now), on surface she should be the one and I have deep affection for her I just struggle to commit and go all in. Not sure why and it's heartbreaking for her. I wouldn't say I'm depressed but I think I need to reconcile my place in the world. I know I can be even more successful but at what cost? Do I want to be the cynical ******* that relies on finding someone younger when I'm older? I'm nearly in my mid thirties now I need to figure it out.
 
Freefaller said:
Work is a pain. But came off my anti Ds. Health is exceptional other than a bit of arthritis in the knuckles. Getting better at BJJ. Made some new friends. Went on a few holidays. Didn't clock up any debts.

Life is expensive though and quite stressful. But kids are doing well and keep me grounded.
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Interesting, you didn't strike me as the sort of chap to be on anti D, has that been long term or just a short blitz (sorry for asking personal question). Was it stress that bought it on or just pure chemical?


Lopéz said:
I'm usually a bit more cheerful in these threads, but this year (Q4 anyway) has been less than ideal.

Wife diagnosed with a non malignant brain tumor, removed surgically, but this is probably not the end of it.

I got pneumonia.

Dog got Pyometra and we very nearly lost her. €4000 later and she's getting better.
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Schisse, that doesn't sound great about your wife. I see you are in Austria. My girlfriend is a specialist in this field and works next door in Switzerland, feel free to ask for second opinion on anything you want.
 
Orangeade said:
Interesting, you didn't strike me as the sort of chap to be on anti D, has that been long term or just a short blitz (sorry for asking personal question). Was it stress that bought it on or just pure chemical?




Schisse, that doesn't sound great about your wife. I see you are in Austria. My girlfriend is a specialist in this field and works next door in Switzerland, feel free to ask for second opinion on anything you want.
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Thanks - it looks like it's a hormonal issue that caused the tumor rather than a tumor that caused a hormonal issue (which is what her initial consultant suspected initially) if that makes sense.

Surgery went very well and she's made a great recovery but it's looking like something that may need long term treatment etc.

Back for more tests in Jan!
 
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Orangeade said:
Interesting, you didn't strike me as the sort of chap to be on anti D, has that been long term or just a short blitz (sorry for asking personal question). Was it stress that bought it on or just pure chemical?




Schisse, that doesn't sound great about your wife. I see you are in Austria. My girlfriend is a specialist in this field and works next door in Switzerland, feel free to ask for second opinion on anything you want.
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Oh pretty mild compared to what some people go through. Just stress related with work, life and family stuff all happening at the same time. Just felt like I was walking through treacle in everything I did. And struggled with feeling happy/joy with anything.

Did a shed load of CBT and was on very low dose of citalopram. I'm back to being me the me that I love and every one knows. However, I kept it under wraps pretty well, but as we know fighting these battles are hard alone. Talking to people and finding allies that I trusted were a life saver. Sports saved me from crumbling too much.

I do volunteer work with Mind and did a lot of work with them during COVID which really causes an enormous mental health crisis in the UK (and globally) so it made me far more aware of my own issues when they did flare up.

I don't mind talking about it, if it helps someone avoid or reduce the life altering impact (just like any serious disease can) that mental health issues can have then so much the better.

BJJ, exercise and good diet were a key element of keeping those endorphins alive and kicking. The drugs just helped take the edge off, the rest was down to CBT and working my way out of it. It helps that I'm fit but mental health issues can really make you feel like a feckless slob, motivation was all over the place. My kids were also a source of focus for me.

Thank you for asking :) I'm doing well and as I said caught my issues early enough and was able to skim off before sinking too low, but it was touch and go for a little while!
 
Highs, lows and everything inbetween. The children are exhausting delights, work is full on and I’ve managed to get myself to a normal BMI for the first time in my adult life. I feel absolutely knackered but have achieved a lot and count myself lucky that nothing catastrophic has happened.

We go again.
 
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D-Ranged said:
The good -

Got a decent pay rise.

The bad -

got destroyed by mortgage rate rises, so I'm even worse off than I was before the pay rise.

Roof of the house is leaking and I want to move as I can no longer deal with the busy road noise.

Got diagnosed with potential menierres disease, which is debilitating and progressively gets worse, until I loose my hearing.

Back pain all day every day.

So yeah, awesome, and I've only just turned 37.
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That sounds like a horrible disease :(
 
It was very meh, which was wonderful cos 2022 was a horrific year by comparison so i welcomed & embraced "meh" with much gratitude!. :p
 
The good - successfully adopted my Son after 5 years of hoop jumping.

The bad - Lost my dog, lost one of my best friends to Cancer, my uncle is in the early stages of dementia.

Scales certainly read in favour of negative overall, but grateful for the time I've had with them all, and will continue to have with our small bean!
 
I have had a fairly mixed year. A good point was visiting my sister and nephew and bro in law over in Ireland at Easter for the first time in over 4 years.
A less good one was finding out my friend and former colleague died , he was only 61 and had quite a few personal issues with money, his sisters death, his mortgage stuation, possibly losing his job.
I have had a change of a job due to a back injury that i was worried would recur if i returned , so far ive been ok. Got a better paid job I'm doing now with a chance to progress .
Did 2 10k runs for charity , plus my first half marathon. Not great times but set a marker for my 2024 plans to improve upon.
 
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