I didn’t meet a new goal, have major growth, or experience something greater in 2025 at Relate….
Professionally, I just caught up to what I already had. I met up with status quo and got back to baseline. I spent an entire year getting back to baseline.
It was long, and difficult, and left me with little to show for it. I felt frustrated, confused, alone, and very annoyed with the lack of progress and the tremendous amount of work that went into reestablishing things that had already worked well in the past.
It felt like I was treading water where I used to have my footing.
Last year, we replaced a water heater in our home. It was the same idea, just a different scale. Yes, there might be some new technology in there and it might have less rust—but the outcome is still about the same. You pick hot water and you get hot water. No one will cheer on this as something new and innovative.
It is expected. If it’s not there, people definitely will notice. If it is there, no one gives it a second thought. You pay for the new water heater, the installation, the removal of the old water heater. It all comes and goes without any glory.
This past year I ran up against lots of things that I had to spend countless hours fixing. Things that really amounted to previously established expectations that I couldn’t sustain for one reason or another.
The first big ask had started in 2024. It was finding a new location for Relate because the previous one was becoming unsafe, unstable, and difficult to be in. We had a great space—once you were in it. Yet, the elevator often didn’t work, there were people in the lobby that weren’t supposed to be there, there was excessive heat or cold in the offices.
It was really time to go..
Hours of looking for places, meeting with real estate brokers, discussing financing and going over options. For what? To move to a place a couple of miles down the road. We actually moved twice. Once into a temporary space, and then again into our permanent space last month. It is beautiful. It has some features that our previous office didn’t have, but it really isn’t that different.
In addition to that, there were insurance headaches—Tricare being taken over by TriWest, stopping service and payments for all active clients. Months of unknowns and misinformation. For what? To get us almost back to seeing our already established clients and taking on the military families that we already had been seeing for years.
Then there was a Medicaid shift to completely dismantle the status that many mental health providers had been utilizing. This required more paperwork and a complete overhaul of all of the previous information provided in the middle of the year. Why? I’m still not sure. I just know it took phone calls, investigations, and forms to get back to where we were before it started.
Once it was all done nothing major had changed. A ton of work for no visible growth.
Visible growth. This is what we all aspire to.
Finding the golden nugget in the blood, sweat, and tears that go into the journey. Last year really didn’t shimmer. I want to say I learned something big or feel really accomplished from the outcomes of the year. I can’t do that in good faith.
What I can say is that I got through it. I figured it out. I got help when I needed it and found people that could help me along the way.
Sometimes a little understanding or a few people to move some boxes is all it takes to find a bit of contentment.
This year, I really see the new year as a fresh start. As I walk around the offices at Relate, I feel a sense of accomplishment and a bit of peace. I know what it took to get there. I understand the pitfalls and challenges that come with getting back to baseline.
I might not call it growth, but maybe I gained some wisdom. Which is good enough for 2025.
