There are moments in life when you reach a critical turning
point. You can keep doing what you’re doing, living life the same way day in
and day out even though it’s not working; or, you can choose to make a change.
At 27 (and some change) years old, I feel as though I’ve hit one of those
critical turning points.
For over a year now, I have felt “stuck” in my life. While
there have been some pretty big changes (finishing a Master of Education program,
landing a job at GWU in DC, and picking up my life to move to a new location on
my own), mentally and emotionally I’ve been on the hamster wheel of life going
around and around with no change of scenery, no end in sight. A personal life
event landed me in this place over a year ago. While I have put forth effort
since then to move forward, I haven’t made any significant alterations to my
lifestyle that would produce the results I’m looking for.
In talking with some of my closest friends recently about
all of these changes in my life, several of them have expressed how much they
wish they had the courage to make such a major change on their own, to have the
opportunity to start over fresh without any obligation to anyone but him/herself.
So I have to ask myself, why don’t I feel the same? Why wasn’t I excited to
start a “new life” in a vibrant city filled with young professionals? Why don’t
I see what I have done with my life as a wonderful accomplishment, something to
be proud of? The answer is simply because I haven’t chosen to. I’ve been focusing on what I haven’t done or don’t have
rather than focusing on the many blessings in my life and living a life I want
to live in the present.
For several years now, I’ve had a running list of books I’d
like to read, places I’d like to see (domestically & internationally), and activities
I’d like to try. This practice was inspired by a visit to Walden Pond back in
college where I fell in love with one of Henry David Thoreau’s many famous
quotes, “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you’ve
imagined”. While I have accomplished quite a bit in my first 27 years of life,
much of it has been focused on what I should
accomplish rather than what I want
to accomplish. I haven’t been making an active effort to live the life I’ve truly
imagined for myself.
So as I start this “next chapter” of my life, I’m choosing change. Once you put something
down in writing it’s official, right? Since I’ve been craving a creative outlet
for myself for a long time and I’m no good at drawing or painting, I thought I would
try my hand at writing.
I intend for this blog to serve as a place for me track the
changes I’m going to be making in my life over the next 365 days, a place to
challenge myself, a place to reflect on what I’m learning about myself and
others, a place to share my successes and my defeats. Most importantly, I want
it to be a place that, perhaps, inspires others to makes positive changes in
their lives as well.
We only have one life. I’m going to start living the one I’ve
always imagined starting now.
With that said, in the next year I want to:
*Write at least one blog post a week
(more if I feel like it)
*Read one “fun” book and one “professional”
book each month
*Take a yoga class on a regular basis
*Save up enough money to go to an all women
surf camp next spring/summer
*Get in touch with at least one friend a
week that I haven’t talked to in awhile
*Create a DC area bucket list and cross
something off that list at least once
every two weeks
*Find a community service organization I
want to a part of and participate
as often as I can
*Exercise four times a week—no matter what
*Learn as much as possible in my new
job & take advantage of professional
development opportunities
*Say “thank you”, in some way, every day for the many wonderful blessings
in my life
· There’s a great big world out there that’s ripe for
exploring. Here goes nothing!
No comments:
Post a Comment