Looking back, I had a boat load of highlights in 2023!
I write this because I want to remember the good parts more clearly and writing helps me think. And also, it’ll be cool to compare it to the next year when I write my 2024 review.
I’m a big goal setter, but only when it comes to short term goals. My long term aim on goal gets too blurry and I lose focus. But looking at the list below I’m pretty proud of what I accomplished last year.
I broke down my year into quarters (like a basketball game) and captured my highlights and lowlights in each. Here they are:
Quarter 1 (Jan – March)
Highlight
Realestate: Charlotte and I added 2 apartments to our property portfolio. We felt like ballers. It was quite a simple process with the help of our close friend/property manager Rob. He helped secure this great deal for us. In summary; He had another client selling, we were looking, and Rob made it happen. Someone told me the other day “property goes to die on realestate.com”, meaning it’s probably not a good deal if you’re buying on market websites (obviously not all deals are bad). It pays to know great people and Rob is the best!
Lowlight
Basketball: Didn’t make the playoffs for basketball. Not playing finals sucks. It’s the funnest time of the year as you’re playing for something more, a championship. We had the best team on paper, beat an NBA team the year before (first NBL to ever do it) and still fell short of the mark.
Quarter 2 (Apr – June)
Highlight
Realestate: We bought another property, this time in Perth, our home city. This was a power move and it was quite stressful. We bought it in a group (Charlotte, myself and her mum). Its a primetime location and an investment for our kids (little Jnr one day). We’re slowly climbing the property ladder and super stoked to land this deal.
Travel: We went on the trip of a lifetime. Visited 9 countries and 17 cities in the span of 10 weeks. We started in Canada, then went across the sea to Lithuania, Norway, Turkey, Serbia, Italy, Spain, England and then finished in Indonesia (Bali).
Before you try and piece together the random selection of countries…let me explain. We went to all of those countries to visit friends and family. One of Charlotte’s best friends lives and works in Canada so we started there and then went to Europe to visit my college teammates who I hadn’t seen in 5-6 years.
While travelling I found out how much I like art and culture. My favourite by far was the Duomo in Florence, Italy. Until you see it in person, no description will do it justice. This building was more than 500 years old, still in pristine condition and the detail was overwhelming. Many people had spent their entire lives working on one portion of the cathedral before they passed.
“We who cut mere stone must always be envisioning cathedrals” – Deep Work
Quick fact for comparison; Australia is just over 200 years old…cool huh.
Friends: In 2023 I was able to rekindle old friendships and create new ones. Going to Europe was a refreshing experience. Each country had an old college teammate so our tour guides were set (besides Turkey). Most were playing professional basketball while others ventured into new careers. One thing stayed constant during our time apart, we were all still childish as ever, picking up right where we left off all those years ago.
I was super excited to meet my nephew Erik. My college roommate Elvar and his wife Ina had a little boy who was now 3. Erik was a bruiser and we quickly became friends. We didn’t speak the same language as he’s Icelandic, but found a way to communicate.
Lowlight
Visa: We originally had planned a trip to the USA, hence the start point of Canada. But we had some technical difficulties entering the US. Long story short;
- Qualified for the basketball World Cup (first time in South Sudan’s history).
- Got an invitation by the President
- Flew back to South Sudan, had to stay overnight in Khartoum (Sudan) in the process.
- Sudan is a no fly zone by the US
- Visa application was red flagged immediately
We had travelled to the US only months earlier without any drama. I tried every embassy possible to book an appointment and plead my case. But, if you’ve ever dealt with US customs officers you know the deal…chasing your tail. In the end, we couldn’t enter the US and had to venture to Europe instead (blessing in disguise). Maybe not a complete lowlight but a midlight.
Quarter 3 (Jul – Sept)
Highlight
World Cup: WE MADE HISTORY! Making our first ever WC was unreal. We finished 17th and it was one of the stories of the tournament. It’s every athlete’s dream to play at a major international competition and this was one off my bucket list. We finished as the top seeded African country and punched our ticket to Paris this year for the Olympics. Bring on the croissants.
Going to South Sudan: This filled my heart for two reasons;
- Celebrating with your countrymen and women is unmatched. They filled the streets, people shed tears, and parties ran throughout the night. All because we had qualified for Paris. Basketball was unifying a country. It was unifying MY country.
- Seeing my family: My family fled South Sudan in the late 90’s and went to Ethiopia. From there we landed in Perth, Western Australia, a place I’ve called home since 2001. Upon fleeing (due to civil war) there were plenty of family and friends my parents left behind. I was able to see them again for the first time in 22 years. We talked, ate and talked some more. Trying to fill in the 22 year gap as much as we could. Major highlight!
Not any lowlights during the 3rd quarter. None that I can remember anyways.
Quarter 4 (Oct – Dec)
Highlight
Friendships: My friendship experiences took a turn for the better during this quarter. I was able to grow closer to some people. Is this what it means to grow up? You talk about serious stuff and not just watch sports and order pizza… Nah jk, I’m grateful for these friends and everything they represent.
Lowlight
Mental: Man, had some mental hurdles on the back end of the year. Maybe I was going through an early midlife crisis…maybe I was coming down on all the highs earlier in the year…I don’t know. All I know is that it sucked!
I’m a big believer in self discipline, meditation, and taking care of your mental. Somehow, I found myself on a slippery slope. Thankfully, with the help of some friends and family I dug myself out of the funk. Got back on the horse and now we’re here.
Take care of your mental
That’s a wrap. No overtime. We won the game (the year). Looking forward to diving head first into this year and what it holds. Take chances. Be thankful for the highlights. Embrace the lowlights. You will appreciate either side of the ball even more that way.
I’ll leave you with a scene from one of my favourite movies, The Longest Yard
“Hell guys, we’re convicts. We always go for it all.”