5 things I've learned this year
/Has life ever hit you when you were already down?
I once shared an office with a woman who, in response to a day where everything started to go wrong, she said, "This is when I like to tell myself, 'I'm excited to see the good that's going to come out of all of this.'"
I returned to this mantra often over the past year.
I started my 34th year by finding my cat dead in the backyard on my birthday.
Two months later, on the weekend of my one-year wedding anniversary, my car was totaled in a car accident. I ended up with an injury that lasted until this past summer.
I spent January and February saying goodbye to my 13-year-old dog, Baylee, before making the hard choice to put him down.
Then, this past summer, my husband was the victim of celebratory gunfire. Though he survived and is well and is scheduled to have his bullet removed this week (!!!), it has been quite an emotional experience.
Finally, this past fall, I suddenly found myself practicing by myself at Upward Spiral for the first time since 2013. This was quite an unexpected change that I wasn't totally prepared for.
Having recently turned 35, I'm happy to say "buh-bye" to the past year. But I'm not harboring any bad feelings. In fact, this past year has brought me many gifts.
Reflecting on this 34th year of my life, here are 5 things I've learned:
The people you love are only here today. I know this, but it takes losing someone or almost losing someone to help us find gratitude for those who are with us today. We have to forget that everything can change in a moment's notice so that we can get through our days. But we also have to remember the preciousness of life so that we don't take it for granted.
The pain you have is only here today. When I was struggling just to feel normal again after my car accident, I finally realized how so many of my clients feel when they have unexplained pain that doesn't seem to let up and change. It's easy to begin feeling like this is how it will always be. I think maintaining faith that something would shift and taking the healing day-by-day is what got me through. I just focused on what would get me through that day, how I was feeling in that moment, what I could do to help my body heal at that moment. All my efforts paid off and not all at once. Eventually, I slowly noticed improvements. There was no "one thing" that made my body feel more normal. There was only my commitment to continuing to try new ways to heal and seeing it through.
Time with your friends must be prioritized. This is a conclusion I've come to. Not only have my friends (that means YOU!) been a saving grace through all of the above, but lesson #1 also applies to them. Both the relationships with friends I've built over decades and the new ones I've started this year have proven to be a great source of joy for me. I love you all so much.
There is no day like today to learn about some plants. Another way to carpe diem is by spending time outside with plants and learning about them in any and every way I can. I've spent a lot of my life believing that I "wasn't an outdoorsy person," that I "had a black thumb," and that I "didn't have time to garden." But just like the slow progression of healing, I've begun to learn a bit here and there over the past few years. I'll tell you, it adds up. Now, I feel such immense joy in making cuttings from a plant that's doing great, watching something go from fruit to flower, and even the puzzle of troubleshooting when a plant isn't doing so well. Each time I'm out in the garden, it offers me a metaphor for what's happening in my life—beliefs that I need to weed out, how the seed of an idea can transform into a blossom, how a little bit of water can breathe new life into what seemed dead. Plus, food!
What you are seeking is here already. This is a mantra that I started saying to myself, and I have been amazed at how often it is true—once I start to open my eyes and my mind. It applies to my relationships, my business, and sometimes simple things like, "Where is the closet?" True story: My mom and I recently stayed in a hotel room and looked around to see NO mini-fridge (bummer) and NO closet (what?!). We laughed it off and went to meet our friends. In conversation, we mentioned that we must be in an adjoining room because where the closet should have been, there were two double doors that we couldn't open. We didn't have an adjoining room ... It turns out those doors WERE to the closet. Our friends' room was the same. They said, "Yeah, it is really hard to open. Just pull the handle but don't twist it. It won't work if you do that." And that mini-fridge we were looking for, it was there too, in the dresser! We got back to the room and found both. They were right where our friends said they would be. It's a silly story, but it goes to show how much of what's right in front of us we can miss unless we know how to look. This year, my heart broke a few times, but it also cracked wide open so I could see all the love that is surrounding me.
Now that I've been able to "see the good that's going to come out of all of this," I'm glad it's my birthday month so I can start a brand new year.
I bet you'll be glad it's my birthday month too ... because it's also time for my birthday sale!
Help me give some essential oils and herbs a new home. Save 35% off any purchase in my store with the code HAPPY35 before 10/31.
🥳Let's go shopping.🥳
I'm excited to see the good that's going to come from you getting this awesome deal!
Thanks for helping me start my 35th year with a bang. 🎉
