Never Stop Your Personal Growth

It’s been a whirlwind 20 months hasn’t it? Hell. It’s been a whirlwind much longer than that…maybe a decade. Interests have evolved, friends have come and gone, employment has changed, residence changed, state changed, a worldwide pandemic, loss of loved ones, which has ultimately all impacted my way of thinking. And I know it’s not just me that has felt these intense and at times abrupt alterations in the way of life that you were once so comfortable.

I suppose it all started when I decided to make more of an investment in my physical and mental health:

• Phase 1 Quit Smoking 11/2011
• Phase 2 Join a fitness community and take all of the exercise classes 2013
• Phase 3 Start running 2014
• Phase 4 Employment change for not just myself but my spouse 2015
• Phase 5 Meal prep healthier foods 2015
• Phase 6 Push myself for further run distances (half marathons and full marathon) 2016-2018
• Phase 7 Go back to therapy 2017
• Phase 8 Pick up and move across the country for a new job/new life with spouse 8/2018
• Phase 9 Hold up at home during the pandemic 3/2020

Now it obviously wasn’t as cut and dry as that and there were some pretty decent speed bumps and potholes along the way. Relationship strains almost to the point of ending, reprioritizing what was most important which led to spending less time away from home, loss of jobs, loss of precious furbabies, loss of friends both by choice and by unexpected death, loss of a parent, etc. But here we are. Here I am. 20 months into the pandemic that has impacted the world, impacted relationships, impacted lives and I can honestly say that I am still continuing my personal growth. When the rug gets ripped out from under you and your way of life, you are yet again faced with choices to figure out what is important to you. Before I used to say that I hated drama and I really did…but now I really practice what I preach. I don’t need to have people in my world that are only going to stir things up and constantly want to debate or battle me to convince me that my way of thinking, my way of life is wrong and not what they would do. Simple and easy down time is what I strive for now that I’m over 40. I had the fun and made the poor choices in my 20’s and then learned a ton of lessons in my 30’s. Now that I am in a new decade, I value quality relationships with people that aren’t trying to prove me wrong or thrive on constant conflict. I just don’t have time for that. My days and week consist of a lot of work to grow my professional career, working out to continue to hit my goals and have that stress reduction, spending time with my precious little furbaby Zoey and then hanging out with my best friend aka spouse. Anything that wants to put a damper on that…a whole lot of no thank you.

This doesn’t mean that I have turned my back on my old life or anything like that. I know where I came from and who helped turn me into the person I am today. And that person is someone who is decisive and no longer can be manipulated. A person that will always choose her family above anything else. A person that isn’t going to get pushed around or let anyone tell her that her choices are stupid. A person who still loves fiercely but knows where to draw the line and set healthy boundaries. And this is a person that is still changing with every day. It never stops. And if it does…something isn’t working like it’s supposed to. Don’t be scared of change because I firmly believe that everyone has so much potential to be even greater than they already are.

So let this journey continue…as different and better people than we once were. Making healthier and better choices for yourself and the ones you love to keep evolving into the thoughtful folks I know we are all capable of.