What a year...

As 2015 closes I think of what a year it's been.

It's been full of change. It's been full of adventure. It's been full of life.

Last January when I was staring down another year of marginal happiness I set a goal for myself. I was going to do better. I was becoming a miserable human and I needed a change. I knew it. My family knew it. My friends knew it. What I didn't know is if I would have the ability, or courage to make the changes I knew I desperately needed.

I am a firm believer that some things happen for reasons out of your control. I think opportunities come when you are ready to embrace them, and when the time is right. I think people are put in your life to make you better, to teach you lessons you can't learn on your own, and to help navigate life. Because life, is harder than it looks. There are no mulligans. Sometimes you have to do scary shit and just leap, and hope somebody is there to catch you.

This past year was pretty big. I took my first trip to a foreign country and I redirected my career path. I put these together because they happened at about the same time, and it all kind of fell together. I had an epiphany on the top of a South African mountain as I was staring out into the vast ocean, standing next to a dear friend. I got some of the best advice. It was simple. It was profound. It put things into perspective.

"You just have to do it. Just make that list and start checking things off."

 I started making that list a few days later over the Atlantic Ocean.

I started checking things off the day after we got back. The first item on the list was my job.

I really did enjoy my job, and the people I worked with. However, I knew if I didn't leave I never would. My first sign that maybe it was time to make the change was getting a job offer four hours after I'd left an interview. I remember talking to my best friend. Trying to talk it out. Trying to figure out what was the best path. I was comfortable where I was. I was at the top of the food chain. I had worked hard, sacrificed, poured my heart and soul into projects, and was trying to navigate changes I was unsure about. Would I wake up in five years and regret not making the change? Was I getting enough reward for what I was putting in?

"You know what you want to do," she said. "You've known even before you got here."

She was right. I just needed my person to tell me I wasn't crazy.

So I took a leap of faith. I made a change.

It's been good. It's been life changing.

I've started checking things off my list. I've embraced life in a whole new way. People have noticed. Not every day has been perfect. There have been times I've really struggled in this new phase of life. However, with a new grasp on my faith and a support system I'm able to navigate even the hard stuff. I just have to remember that it'll be OK.

I don't have to be perfect today, I just have to be better than I was yesterday.

I'm where I am supposed to be, and I haven't felt that way in a long time.