As this is the last blog post of 2023, I am finally shutting the door on what has been a rollercoaster ride of over the past four and a half years of living a vivacious life and grounding myself where I have needed to be all along by learning and establishing the life that I needed to have all along.

2023 has been the wildest of the past five years, which is for sure. It can be hard to imagine that in this year I had finally broken down from what had seemed the deep end and I finally have figured out what is needed to work for me to have a successful, independent, everyday life as an autistic adult. The last few years have been a journey of learning the good and terrible things about life and myself and where I stand within my way of the world.

It had seemed like when things had hit at their worst, they really hit. When the first apartment became inhabitable, the world locked down and everyone had to learn how to do things differently. It was through the strength of The Lord God that I through those times, back on my feet and pure luck to be in the home that I currently reside.

Through those past three years, as many in the world did, I stepped away from my beliefs and traded them in for something that was quite unique. It would take three years until I heard my home church pastor on a Facebook reel talk about the necessity of coming to Church and of March of this year, I did that and again accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I have always been a firm believer that a higher power is always watching over me, and that He was.

While 2023 did start on the right track, it brought out the worst of me because of what I had believed about the past five years about myself. I had difficulty accepting my challenges and the needs that I require, particularly with medication, sleep and the things that are related to it. I had never had the opportunity to put those things to rest because I struggled with accepting and understanding where I had fell in this world and whether I had to fall into what society considered normal or the fact that I had to do things that I would never enjoy or just find where I could be happy in life.

I am proud to admit that I have finally accepted all of me and love everything about it, including what is necessary for me to be well in life by doing what is required for me to exist in this world. Throughout the experience of 2023, I have learned that there are so many people out there that care about me and support me and the things that. I honestly have to say that those feelings are mutual in nature, and I am learning where I fit in this world and it is not within the normal levels of society, yet it is enough that I can still exist in a society that I can function quite well in.

Yet, while establishing how I fit my personal life into sync is still a work in progress, but it Is in a much better place than where it once was. It is accepting all parts of me and seeing how the parts that I liked fit into that world while continuing to better myself day by day and sometimes hour by hour. The main thing is that I am starting to love myself increasingly as I can accept myself for the parts of my life that are good, bad, and ugly. It is accepting the reality that I am who I am with the struggles, challenges and needs that arise during my walk in life. I know that I can NEVER go back to the ways of old and that is why I must accept what was that happened from the past five years and close it out just as I am working to close out 2024 and start the next year anew.

Here is to a grander and better life on the horizon as we head into the best New Year Ever!!!