2016- My 31st year of living has been a tough one. Longtime readers know I love to look at the positive side of all things, and this year showed me just how mentally tough I am and how much stress I can handle.
I have written and rewritten this post over and over. I don’t like to be a complainer, I like this space to be a place of positivity and happiness, but behind my smiling hiking pictures I hid a lot of stress this year.
- Saying Goodbye– my grandpa slowly slipped away earlier this year and I spent my spring semester in hell as he was in and out of the hospital until he passed.
- School- People told me the Education program was a ton of work but I was not prepared. School took over my life and everything else suffered, including my next point.
- Disconnected from Family – This insane semester has meant my weekends are endless hours of to-do lists trying to get all my schoolwork and life work done and calls with my family have fallen to the wayside.
- Apollo’s Paw- The saga of Apollo’s infected foot is STILL going on! Four months (and $1600) later, that dog is still wearing a cone as his paw very slowly heals up. At one point we thought we may have to put him down.
- Money- This year was all about not having enough money. We’re trying to find a way to get our shit together and I’ve been chipping away at our budget bringing it as low as possible. I don’t know if there is any stress worse than money stress, it eats away at you even when you’re not thinking about it.
Freaking out
As you can see, it’s been a tough year. But this year I also learned a valuable lesson from my brother Bruce after his new town home flooded from a burst pipe 1 week after he moved in with his 1 week old baby.
“Freaking out won’t change the situation”
I have repeated this to myself many times this year. I have used hot yoga, running, and hiking to help sweat away my troubles even for a little while. But as I am closing out this awful year and say “hello” to 32, I’m excited for a fresh start.
Getting older is all about learning lessons and this year has been no different. It’s amazing how much you can take on that you didn’t think you could. How you can think you’re backed up against a wall and going to drop but yet you fight your way through.
I compared myself to a Viking shield maiden this spring when I handled Grandpa’s passing and I think that’s the theme of my year;
Be a shield maiden and fight your way through it!
I hope this isn’t too much of a “woe is me” post, it’s more of a “life isn’t perfect and shit happens so fight your way through and learn from it” post.
