The day where we all decide to look, do, and be better.
100 new people decided to move to Nashville and pursue their dreams.
Starbucks is full of people finally beginning that novel.
Yesterday we all posted a synopsis of 2018. We uploaded highlight photos of our year. Maybe your year wasn’t so hot. Your last post of 2018 was a less graceful way of saying, you’re freakin ready for 2019. Regardless, we took a moment to sum up 2018 and write what we hope for in 2019.
I quickly wrote a synopsis of my year last night. It wasn’t difficult to pin point the high points. I did a lot last year. But I quickly wrote it, to leap straight towards the next. Today I lazed out of bed thinking of the things I could have accomplished already, if I’d woke up sooner. Later I read a blog post from about 5 years ago. I couldn’t believe how far I’d come. I cried while I read it. I cried for not giving myself the time I should have given myself last night.
I’ve realized a resolution for this year I needed to make.
Allow myself the time to feel proud of me.
When you become too go-go-go in your head, your body doesn’t feel like it’s capable of your expectations. You wind up stagnant instead. The need to succeed overpowers the reasons why you want to do what you’re aiming for in the first place.
I’ve recently taken up rock climbing. Rock climbing is teaching me a lot.
It’s also making my arms hella swoll, but that’s a different bonus.
There is an indoor climbing place I love, where the walls are 60 feet high. I recently went and decided to climb a route I did not fathom finishing. For being such an innocent color pink, It was a much higher level than I’ve done and it was surely daunting...I went for it anyway.
I got to a point I was sure I couldn’t get passed. After countless attempts and falls, I climbed higher. Rather than feeling discouraged by how many tries it took, I felt disbelief and pride I’d actually done it. Then I looked up. There was still so much to climb and it looked more difficult than anything I’d yet done.
I did something in that moment I don’t do nearly enough in life. In fact, you hear often not to do this. I looked down. I looked down and I saw something much different. I saw how far I had already come. I couldn’t believe what I’d been able to climb. The feeling of letting myself be surprised, humbled and proud of my strength, is what motivated me to keep going.
I went a little higher. I fell a few more times. I questioned my ability to get to the top. It made no sense in my mind I could finish, yet it also felt so feasible. I knew I could do it because I’d already climbed passed parts I was so sure I couldn’t climb.
Wanna guess how this story ends? I made it.
I didn’t really know it then, but I know now why I made it to the top. Part of it was my strength. Part of it was my climbing strategy. Part of it was my determination. Part of it were the moments I gave myself to feel proud of how far I’d come, even before I’d reached the top.
Maybe 2018 felt like a year where all you did was fall and you’re no where near the top.
While I was climbing that route, I felt so proud I was able to climb at all, if I’d made it only 1/4 of the way I would have fallen down with a smile.
Maybe 2018 was extra hard on you. Maybe you feel like you couldn’t catch a break no matter how much you went for it. Maybe you feel like you wasted time feeling beaten down. Take a moment and breathe. Listen as the air fills your lungs. Let out a smile as you finish exhaling it out. You may not feel like it, but you climbed higher last year. You made it through. You kept going. Don’t let life beat you down to the point you feel you haven’t accomplished a thing. Take a moment to feel proud of where you are, even if it’s not where you wanted to be. Because even in the realization and decision to step towards whatever that looks like for you, there is a moment to feel proud.
My mom always has said, “Go forth,” and for some reason I always take it upon myself to let it affect me negatively. It’s because I put so much pressure on the doing I’d rather not do anything. This year I’m going to feel encouraged and inspired whenever I hear those words. I know as I’m climbing up, even when I fall, as long as I keep trying my muscles are getting stronger. Eventually I’ll be hitting that top rock, then I’ll let out a big grin as I make my way to the next, and more difficult climb.
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