East coast to west coast and back again! Fun fact for everyone: you take yourself and your problems wherever you go! You are your shadow. Just in case you were wondering if traveling or picking up all your things and leaving offers you the grand escape…..it doesn’t. On the plane, in the car, at the new apartment luxurious and all, even with a new group of awesome people you call new friends, if you have dealt with issues and have things you need to come to terms with, you still need to do it.
When I traveled to California, I thought that was my key to happiness. What is happiness? Something that is different for everyone, and personally, I don’t actually know how to define it yet. It was my chance to start over, have a new environment, meet new people, clear my head. During my first couple of weeks there, it was clear that this was just an eight month vacation. My heart wasn’t there. My heart was home. I realized I was more about who I was with not where I was, and I still had a lot to work on and wanted to do that back where I wanted to be.
Do I regret leaving? Of course not! I came back a completely different person. Did things I never thought I would do, including skydiving (so fun, do it if you are thinking about it), and saw it as an eight month journey, focusing on personal growth, mental work, and learning about myself. Did I make mistakes along the way? Big time. Did I have hard days, even weeks? Umm more than I want to admit. Did I think I was staying, wonder what people would think if I came back, and even think to stay just to be alone? Yup! I was somewhat scared to come back.
But I did what I set out to do, made some great friends, challenged myself, and now have a great place to visit. I come back home, with a weight on my heart, but ready to start a new job working with people with diabetes and with a newfound confidence to live on my own and continue to work on myself (the never-ending process).
What have you done to challenge yourself in the last 8 months? What is your roadblock and how can you get around it? How can you push yourself out of your comfort zone to see what parts of you are undiscovered? Doesn’t have to be a move, but try something because even the smallest thing can affect you in ways you might never expect.
SEROTONING 