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Photo: Emily Reed
delawareonline.com |
Lately, the Rockville 8 has been blogging about our life journeys. I’ve haven’t done a post relating to this theme mainly because I wasn’t sure what mine was. But, now I think I know. My journey is to move forward. To reinvent myself, or maybe just go with the flow of progress and growth that’s been interrupted while I addressed my health crises and had the five surgeries required to get back to…well, me. Now that I’m past the medical issues, I feel like a tidal wave has engulfed me. It’s as if I built a flimsy dam to hold life back until I could get back on my feet, and now it’s opened—rushing at me, carrying me downstream at a faster rate than I can sometimes manage.
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| Photo: dreamstime.com |
My current reinvention is taking a certification program for my job. It is intense—eight hours a day, five days a week, complete with tests and homework. The tests are hard. In the last class, half of the people failed the first exam. No one wants to go back to work and tell management they can’t pass the expensive class that the boss funded. Their stress only ramped up my stress.
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| Photo: dreamstime.com |
However, despite the difficulties, I’m discovering that I can do this. I’m working hard, a lot harder than working forty hours a week at my job. This requires evenings studying as well. I’ve had to miss social events that I would normally attend which makes me feel sad and isolated. But, it has forced me outside of myself, if that makes sense. It’s made me reach for something that I wasn’t physically strong enough to reach for a couple of years ago. It’s reminded me that I’m young and need to get back in the game.
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| Photo: dreamstime.com |
Change is difficult. Even good changes are stressful. I’m trying to look at this in the most positive light. Sometimes, when it’s late and I’m tired of studying, it’s not easy to stay positive. But I’m working on it. I’ve been through fourteen weeks of training since the middle of June and I am about to start two more weeks on Monday. I’m plowing through it. I’m surviving. Sometimes that’s all you can do.
Hi Lisa,
ReplyDeleteStuff like this, surgeries and stress, sweep so many people to the edges of what's going on in life, but not you! You're strong! Your strength is inspiring, and I have no doubt you'll charge right up the middle of life, enjoy all it has to offer, and put the crummy stuff behind you. Go, Lisa, and thanks for reminding me when the going gets tough, I can go, go, go like you do.
Lisa, you are doing a good thing. Something that will benefit you and your family in the long term. I'd say you're doing more than surviving, you're thriving. Keep up the good work. You'll get there sooner than you think. And I'm always amazed that we're a lot stronger than we think we are. Good luck. Keep up the good fight!
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Lisa, and it really hit home with me. Lately I've been pondering that quote from George Bernard Shaw, "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself," and what that means in terms of actively creating myself and my life. Living deliberately. It's hard, like you said; even the good changes are stressful. But if we don't move, we stagnate, and who wants to do that?
ReplyDeleteKudos to you on all you're doing! I'm excited to see where your journey takes you! :-)
Nichole - Thank you for the pep talk. I'd like to avoid the crummy stuff in the future. :)
ReplyDeleteMackenzie, I'm trying to keep it up. It gets harder all the time. It is amazing what we can bear and survive.
ReplyDeleteMisha - I love that quote! I've definitely been doing a lot of creating of my life. I hope my journey takes me somewhere I want to be!
ReplyDeleteForever young of mind, yet mindful of the body. Glad you're coming back into your own, Lisa, after so many setbacks and delays.
ReplyDeleteMy coworker has a saying at the bottom of her emails, "And may you always remember that obstacles in the path are not obstacles, they ARE the path." So, sometimes we take a longer detour on the way to our goals than we'd like. As long as our eyes are on the prize, we'll get there. And you're gettin' there!!