Negative events in 2024
My previous blog talked about 5 positives of 2024, and I said I needed to be authentic, so here are 5 negatives.
5 things that didn’t go quite so well:
- I mentioned how excited and emotional it was for me to watch my client, Chris Hunt Skelley MBE win bronze at the Paris Paralympics… Well, I should have been there in Paris and not at home watching it on the TV.
My husband Steve and I had booked our tickets well in advance, received our Paralympic goodies including the Paralympic mascots and t-shirts etc, planned our journey, where we were staying, and generally very hyped and excited about the whole event. However, a week before we should have been travelling, I couldn’t find my passport. We searched high and low. I had the kids searching – everywhere in the house, in the caravan, the car, in all my coat pockets (we’d not long come back from a holiday abroad). It was nowhere. I phoned up to order an emergency one, only to find that the passport office has changed the rules about what constitutes an emergency, and I wouldn’t be able to get one in time.
I was absolutely distraught, as you can imagine – I was gutted. Hence, we had to watch the event on TV. However, when Chris came home, I was lucky enough to be invited to celebrate his return along with other friends.
After ordering and paying for a new passport, I eventually found the old one inside a coat pocket that I hadn’t expected it to be in! - A few months ago, I lost my auntie Daphne, my mum’s sister who died after a short illness at the age of 84. She lived in the Midlands and my mum lives down in the southwest, so they haven’t seen each other for a while, although they were in contact with each other daily.
As a family, our loss was compounded by the fact that her children chose not to hold a funeral or even invite us to share in any type of ‘moment’ of remembrance they may have had. Of course this was their right. However, it meant that my mum, aged 81 was unable to formally say goodbye to her own sister. Obviously, this has caused a lot of pain and stress in my family. It was and still appears to be a cruel and spiteful action by other members of our family. At a time when we should have been supporting each other, our memories of my lovely auntie have been tainted by their actions. - In business, sometimes people disappoint you. This happened during this year, when I found that one of my business contacts behaved in a despicable way to someone else who I’ve worked with. The person I worked with was the speaker at an event arrange by my business contact, but I found that the speaker had not been paid, and therefore they had taken the matter to small claims court.
How did this make me feel about my business contact? Would I be able to ever trust them again and want to do work with them in the future? My answer is most likely not.
The speaker was paid, after the threat of small claims, but not until two years later! It has just left a horrible taste in my mouth. - 2024 has been a year with quite a lot of general negativity around people having to deal with the cost of living, many who would not have had problems in the past. Some of the decisions made by the government on our behalf, regardless of your political views still have a great impact on us all at home and in business. The continuing war in Ukraine, the US elections and what consequences will Trump’s election as US President make to the rest of the world?
No matter what happens with all of these things, PR is always one of the first things to get hit in terms of business funding. - The great turnover I’ve had this year is down to how much work I’ve put into my business. Of course, this means I have less time with friends because the two things I prioritise in terms of importance are work and family. Those who know me well understand how much my work and my family mean to me, and for that reason, friends need to understand (as real friends do) why I can’t always give them the time I’d like to. I know some may feel put out by that, but I can’t be responsible for them too. Being my friend means you have to take me as I am!