It’s crazy to me that another year has almost come and gone. Before we know it, the holiday season will be upon us. As I reflect back on 2018, so much has changed in a matter of months. I promised to myself in late 2017 that “2018 would be MY year!” and it really has been. I attribute most of htat to putting myself first and facing the deep problems (that I had been ignoring) head on.
The first step was finding happiness in my career. In college, I studied Actuarial Science, which if you are unfamiliar, is a discipline that applies mathematical and statistical methods to asses risk in insurance, finance, and other professions. In order to become a certified actuary, you must become qualified through intense education, experience, and exams. While I had passed some exams in college, I was left with the remaining to take in my professional career.
These exams consume your life for 5 months at a time, and I mean CONSUME your every minute. On top of your normal 40 hour work week, most successful people spend at least an additional 20 hours per week studying in their free time. I spent so much energy on these exams and they were driving me to my breaking point each and every single day.
After failing my latest exam earlier this year, I decided it was time to take a break. To take a break from ALL the things I thought I should be doing. Studying for exams, staying in a job that was beyond stressful and toxic, saying yes to every event – even if I didn’t want to go, binge drinking every weekend because that is how someone in their twenties is supposed to want to spend their time.
Supposed to want to spend their time…I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on who says I should want to do those things. Why should I care? Just because most people my age are living for the weekend doesn’t mean I have to. Don’t get me wrong, there is definitely a time and a place for a wild night out. But I’ve realized I don’t need alcohol to enjoy myself and I am capable of going out without blacking out…
Getting a new job, taking a break from actuarial exams, on top of an overall shift in my day to day attitude left me feeling so much better. However, I still had a long way to go in finding true happiness within and not allowing food to dictate my life, as it always had.
I’ve always had a passion for food in some way or another. Creating this blog has been almost therapeutic, to be able to express all of these feelings out loud for anyone to hear does not come easy to me. But it has given me a purpose. A possibility to make a meaningful change in the life of others is what makes me happy. Helping others to realize they can set their own destiny and create they life they want day by day. So I now spend a lot of my free time on this blog, making simple recipes to make healthy living a reality. Developing my Beautycounter business under a company that not only develops safer skincare but advocates for it as well has been life changing for me.
So my hope for you is to find what makes you happy, what gives you energy, what give you purpose. Find that and DO THAT. Do it every day, even if it is only for 5 minutes. Accept where you are and allow that to be okay. We can always strive to be better and work toward it every day, little by little. If 2018 wasn’t your year, that is okay! It is never too late to start living your best life.