My current state of mind is similar to that of six years ago when I leaping from treatment back out into the ‘real’ world…
Journal entry (2.23.2016) “I am feeling lots of things. I am worried about work. I am kind of angry. I want to cry. I want to fall apart. I want to scream. I want to feel competent. I want to feel my age. I want to breathe. I want to feel like I haven’t been forgotten. I don’t want to be lost and behind. I want to stop this voice in my head. I feel scattered.”
Okay, so maybe I’m not feeling everything I did six years ago today, but certainly can relate to the anxious, scattered and breathing part.
Life is changing. Again. Sigh. Unlike my anxiety six years ago, today’s anxiety comes with a big slice of confidence and joy. How is it possible for one person to feel so much joy and anxiety at once? I’m not sure. But it is where I am and I’m rocking it.
Recently, I shared the news about my family’s upcoming move. It is beyond bittersweet. But with this move come chaos. And I mean capital C-H-A-O-S. Our house will hit the market next week. Showings will begin and so will the inevitable scenario of putting the dirty laundry in the dryer, gathering the scattered toys in a box and putting them in the car as you drive around with shoeless kids in their jammies, as well as a dog and and rescue cat who thinks she is a dog.
Since returning home from our amazing vacation, sleep has been hard to come by. Jordan and I wake at all points in the night. We talk and toss around, while we remove our son’s foot from our face (ah the joys of sleeping with a five year old). We are taking a huge leap of faith with this move. It is scary. It is unknown. But it is necessary so we rise up and march on.
As I am rising up and marching on, I am also inundated with the growth of my beloved Southern Smash. Walking upstairs to my office every day, makes me the richest person on earth. Certainly not monetary rich, but rich in the greater since – the one that makes your soul burst with joy. I pinch myself on the daily.
I am doing the exact work God put me on this earth to do. And because of that, I know that no matter what curve ball life throws again (and again) my family and I will be okay. I will be okay. Because look at how far I’ve come.
When I think back to six years ago, I am in awe of how brave I was – probably because I, at the time, had no idea of my courage and inner strength. I felt so many emotions and marched on. I knew recovery was out there and I wanted it. Bad. I knew I just had to keep marching falling forward to get there. Today, I feel so many emotions as I march on. This leap of faith (like all leaps) is scary. But I rely on my perseverance was born six years ago. I rely on the solid relationship and friendship I have with my soul mate and best friend. We have gone through much worse. Jordan and I can literally conquer anything together.
In the past few weeks, I have talked with more people struggling than I can count, guiding each of them (and their families) to professional help. This evening I spoke with a young group of women gravely concerned for their best friend. They listened so intently and laughed as I cut a joke here and there. But what they didn’t know is the tears that fell silently down my cheeks. I was once their friend praying for someone to tell me I needed help – that I deserved help and treatment. That my life mattered to them.
I cried because I feel so damn blessed to be a listening ear and sounding board. I cried because I am so alive. I cried because I am so scared of what is to come. I cried because I love life and my family so damn much it hurts. I cried for the young woman six years ago who had no idea the extraordinary path God was laying before her. I cried because I was brave enough to walk that path. I cried because I get to pay it forward and help others every day.
Life is terrifying and also filled with such joy. When I started Southern Smash, never did I imagine it would grow to this extent. Never did I see myself in an office where I spend hours on end and still never finish the job. My job will never be done because it isn’t a job! Jordan asks me every morning, “What do you have to do today?” My response, “My job doesn’t come with a to do list.” My work is led by my calling, my fire and passion.
We all have a fire. A calling. I found mine. Don’t be afraid to chase yours. It is that fire that stops you in your tracks. A fire that hurts because you feel it so deep. A fire that can never be extinguished, no matter what leaps you take or where you move.
Walk your path. Open your heart to others. Take leaps of faith. Life would be pretty boring if we all sat in the comfort zone.
[Insanely gorgeous photo cred to the extraordinary Ileana of Attimi Photography]
