Embrace Life’s Challenges and Rediscover Your Happiness.

It’s been 5 months since I wrote and shared an article. 5 months! That feels incredibly long and short at the same time. The break felt long because I was nervous to get writing again, afraid that I lost my passion or I had nothing to share anymore. I was also so consistent with my writing, sharing articles every week, that the longer the time passed without writing, the more of a struggle it felt to get back into it.

Then life happened, as life does. My world was turning upside down in pretty much every aspect and I had no choice but to let go of control. I had to take the advice I had shared many articles ago which reminded me that my only option was to ride the wave of uncertainty. 

This 5-month break also felt short because SO MUCH has happened. I am sitting on the other side of it and truly amazed at all the changes that occurred. The saying “when it rains, it pours” could not be more applicable than now and I realized something big during this time. 

Life will always work out for you, even when it feels like everything is against you. 

I have learned this lesson time and time again and it truly is one of the most important ones. Every single time I have had a rough season or a challenging situation, it’s always followed by an amazing and blissful time. When everything does inevitably fall into place, I am reminded that miracles come through at the very last second even when you think it’s impossible. 

One of the biggest challenges for me last year was figuring out what I wanted to do, career-wise. See I had this dream of being a coach on the internet and having an online business, which has been all the rage in the last several years. Yes, it was trendy, but I felt like it was something I could excel at.

The problem was I didn’t have the confidence to put myself out there or tell anyone what I was doing. I knew deep down that I could help people and I had a lot of wisdom, I just didn’t have the self-belief. I would try to follow strategies and business plans from other people, hoping that it would work for me, too.

But if that confidence isn’t there, no strategy or perfect marketing technique will solve that. I wrote about this in my last post, what changed for me, and how I found the courage to burn it all down and start again, in my way. 

I was putting so much pressure on being this perfect coach and doing everything “right” that I would just get frustrated when nothing worked. All I wanted to do was hide and delete everything. I was also unhappy in my day job, feeling the pressure and stress rise every day, and I desperately wanted an out. I thought that my dream of having a business online would be my escape from the stress. I wanted someone else to come and solve my issue and just escape from it all. Even though I was unhappy, the thought of starting over was scarier. 

This right here was the biggest learning of the year. Trust me when I say that you do not have to stay in any situation that is not making you happy. Period, the end. I was letting the allure of my comfort zone keep me trapped, thinking it would get better someday. That day never came.

And when I was finally at a place where I was being pushed out of my job (a blessing in disguise) my eyes finally realized that it was time for me to move on. The thing about life is that it will keep serving you the same lesson until you choose a new action. I was complaining for months on end about how unhappy I was at my job, yet doing nothing about it.

So one day I woke up and said it’s time for me to see what else is out there, I do not have to stay like this. Everything changed from that instant. I immediately felt this weight lifted off of me and my happiness returning. I realized that there was something bigger and better out there for me, even if I didn’t know what it was yet.

If you keep struggling in the same situation and things aren’t getting better, maybe it’s time to ask yourself, is it worth it to keep going? What if you let go of your comfort zone and any ideas of what you thought life should look like, and let new possibilities emerge?

After I made that decision to choose something new and different, I talked with an old coworker who was going through it just like I was and she said I was glowing. She saw the happiness back on my face, and I felt it, too. 

As I will be starting a new job and letting go of the last one and all the lessons that came with it, I am truly excited for 2024. Writing will also be a big focus for me as I step back into this passion and be my fully authentic self. No more standing on the sidelines waiting for someone to notice me, I will share my words with confidence, knowing they will reach the right eyes. No more following someone else’s dream life, it’s time to find out what mine looks like.

And maybe you reading this, you are going through something too. Maybe a challenging job that you dread going to, maybe a recent heartbreak that feels almost too much at times, or maybe you have no idea what you want anymore. This right here is an amazing place to be in. 

This point in your life is when anything is possible. When you can pick any direction you want to go, knowing that it will work out in your favor. This is when all those lessons you learned finally make sense. Now that I am feeling way more settled, I am a little envious of you if you’re in the thick of it right now.

Because this is when you get to let control of everything and let life take over. Be grateful for the tough seasons, this is when you realize just how strong and capable you are. This is when you get to see that miracles do happen and you’ll never doubt the magic of life again. 

While I do not wish to be back in such a stressful time, I do know one thing for certain. I will always let there be some level of uncertainty in my life so I can experience that same magic anytime I want.