How I’ve Grown Over the Past Year
As you may know, I recently turned 25 and like previous birthdays, I didn’t wake up feeling drastically different than the day before. However, I did wake up feeling vastly different than I had a year ago. I have actually been feeling this way for a while now. As I reflect on the past year, it’s safe to say that I’ve undergone a lot of spiritual and emotional growth. It’s funny to say, but with this birthday I just feel more like a woman. I feel that I am growing into the woman I’ve always dreamt of and everyday I am becoming more and more of the woman I want to be.
Like I said, it’s not like I woke up all of the sudden and felt more grown up but it’s the actions I’ve taken and the decisions I’ve made leading up to this moment that have made me feel so very different as a person. You might wonder, how have I felt different? What were the realizations that I’ve had and the things I’ve done to cause all of this internal growth? As I begin to tell you, my hope is for you to realize the ways you have changed and know that everyone has a different journey. What’s personal to me may not resonate with you, however, if this does resonate with you, I hope this guides you in your own self development journey. After all, we’re here to better ourselves. To become the person we’ve always dreamt of being.
Gratitude
I know I sound like a broken record every time I discuss gratitude – but seriously this has changed my life. I started recognizing all of the things that I’m grateful for everyday. We are given so much and we are all so blessed in various ways. As we live this earthly life, it’s so important to be grateful for our blessings. Focusing on the good in our lives changes our hearts which in turn makes us more positive, grateful people. The big thing I’ve learned is to never take anything or anyone in this life for granted.
Finding True Happiness
I think sometimes we think that we must be happy all the time to experience happiness. Happiness is just the state of being happy; meaning happiness is a temporary feeling. Realizing that happiness is not an all the time or around the clock feeling was particularly freeing for me. This led me to create happiness in times of feeling down or even in doing the mundane. What is it that makes you feel happy? The better question is: what makes your soul happy? What feeds your soul?
For me, it was finding happiness in the little things. The simple things that life has to offer. For instance: the sunshine, the way the light hits the earth, the sound of nature, the smell of flowers blooming, deep conversations and connecting with loved ones. All of these things make me happy. It feeds my soul. Not the material things we have in this world. Not status or achievement, but the little things we experience everyday.
Connecting with God
In the past I’ve been so reluctant to discuss my spirituality because I never wanted to push my beliefs onto someone else nor did I want to be a guide for someone when I felt my connection wasn’t at a place it needed to be to share. Spirituality is personal and there are times where you feel more or less connected. For me, I felt that I always believed in God but wasn’t doing the work (other than praying) to be closer to God. Part of it was that I didn’t know I needed to. I was on my own journey and I felt that what I was doing was enough. It wasn’t until an amazing conversation with some friends of mine that left me feeling inspired to read my Bible again and recreate that connection with God. Since doing that a year ago, I found myself reading my Bible, journaling, praying and creating that closeness again not because it's what I was supposed to do, but because I genuinely wanted to. Ever since getting close to God again, I have found so much peace in my life and my soul. It’s a connection that I am so happy to have and am so excited to grow each day.
As of February, I had another revelation in my spirituality. I know it’s been just a few weeks, but along with reading my Bible daily, praying, and journaling, I have been going back to church weekly. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while now, but as of recently I finally did it and I’ve been LOVING it. Going to church has furthered my relationship with God in indescribable ways and it’s honestly been so nice being around a community of like-minded people. In whatever you do, we are made for community so being around a community in this way has genuinely created so much joy for me and I’m also happy to announce I am getting baptized this weekend! I need to do another post about my faith because it has been a big part of why I’ve grown so much over the past year.
Defining Your Values
This may seem like an obvious one. We all have morals and values but what I’m referring to here is figuring out what you value. What we value is determined by how we spend our time, who we spend our time with, how we spend our money, and much more. We may be able to say what we value, but our values are defined by our actions and recognizing whether the two align is a big part of self-reflection. I have noticed becoming way happier and at peace with myself and my life simply by defining what I value and following up with actions that support it. This may mean having to cut people out of your life, reallocating where you spend your money and how you spend it, and minimizing spending your time in ways that in the end don’t matter to you. I’m not saying to do all of this cold turkey, but be cognizant of how you feel when you do certain things or spend time with certain people. If you leave feeling negative, emotionally drained, or even guilty, then it may not be for you anymore and that’s okay! Letting go of the things that are not for you is growth. Growth is uncomfortable, they call it growing pains for a reason!
I sincerely hope this has been insightful and has prompted you to think about how you’ve changed in the past year. It’s healthy and normal to grow and have different values or different ways of thinking than before. I think it’s something to be proud of. To grow more positively everyday and know that I am working towards becoming the person I’ve always wanted to be is exciting. Not to say, I’m not the person I want to be, but more and more I am getting clear on who I want to be and what I want out of this life. I am so very thankful to be surrounded by supportive friends and family, to have all of these realizations, and for God guiding me through each and every day. Like I’ve said many times before, life's a journey. I’m sure I will grow so much more in the years to come and will continue to learn more about myself and this world we live in.