Hello again, everyone! I realize it has been a while… AGAIN… And, at this point, I should probably stop apologizing, because with the busyness of my life recently, I truly haven’t had time to sit down to write another blog post. …That, and the timing just hasn’t felt quite “right,” until now. As I sit here and type the words that you’re reading right now, I STILL do not know where this blog post is going to end up, but I’ve gotta start somewhere, so… here goes nothin’!
First things first, I realize that a lot of you would probably like to be updated on how my job with the Y is going. I am very happy to tell you all that I am ABSOLUTELY LOVING my job, and I have met some amazing men and women who I’ve already become VERY close with. Now, are there still daily/weekly struggles? Absolutely, but EVERYONE has struggles with their job at some point or another, and EVERYONE has daily/weekly stresses with their job. Thankfully, I am not easily deterred, and I am maintaining my determination to make the Before and After School program that I run the BEST that it can possibly be!
Another thing that I’m sure you all are interested in is my personal training journey. I’ve given a review of my trainer (and friend) on Facebook and I’ve posted some photos, but I’ll go into more detail about how things are going with my personal training journey here. So, I started personal training on Columbus Day (Oct. 14th), but that is also the week that I got sick with the flu, so I missed two sessions (out of three) that week. Not to be defeated, I have come in each day and each week since, and have put forth the very best effort that I can give, and will continue to do so until the end of my journey with Elizabeth. I can’t say that I haven’t had some struggles with our workouts at times, and I’ve definitely had days where I’ve gotten down on myself, but my trainer (and friend) Elizabeth has been absolutely amazing, and I could not have dreamed of starting this journey without her help and guidance.
The three things I enjoy the most about personal training are that 1. I get immediate feedback on my form while doing the movements, so that I can implement the changes into the next set, 2. I can ask Elizabeth ANY question or come to her with ANY struggle that I’m having, and she is quick to offer a (most of the time SIMPLE) solution to my problems, and 3. I have come to absolutely LOVE the fact that I get to see my friend every other day of the week, AND feel good about myself while exercising with her there by my side every step of the way!
That being said, the only drawback I have experienced with personal training so far are the days where I feel like I’m not living up to Elizabeth’s (or my) expectations of me. You know, those days where you feel like you SHOULD’VE done more but didn’t, or you couldn’t quite get the move correct, and you feel bad because you only did three sets, and you should’ve done four because you couldn’t get the move 100% correct on the first two sets? Yeah, that’s happened to me a few days during this process. However, Elizabeth has been SO kind, graceful and UNDERSTANDING towards me when these types of things come up, and she knows when she can push me a little harder, or when she needs to take a step back to encourage and reassure me that I am doing a good job, that she is proud of the work that I am doing, and that I should be proud of myself. I have really started to FEEL BETTER about my body and about my day-to-day life throughout this process, and I’m now getting the the point where I’m thinking to myself, “I really should go work out today…” Which, if you know me well enough, is NEVER a thought that crossed my mind before this whole personal training journey began! So, with all this in mind, personal training has been a HUGE thumbs up and green light for me, and I am so excited that I am finally reaching my fitness goals!
I am now going to move in a completely different direction with this post. As many of you already know, my 28th birthday is rapidly approaching, and something as simple as scrolling back through my Facebook photos a few days ago has made me think about a few different things. The first thing I thought about while scrolling through my photos was the fact that I have gone through and done so many things in my relatively short life, and it made me happy to look back through my photos and see all of the things I’ve done and experienced. I’ve met and worked with a lot of people, I’ve had some amazing experiences, and even a few “not-so-great,” experiences, but I thought to myself… “Is it weird to look back on just a few years of your life and reflect and remember those parts of your life?” …The reason I thought about this is because normally, you hear about people looking back on their photos from 10, 20, 30+ years ago and reflecting on those parts of their lives, but it kind of felt odd for me to do that considering I looked back to photos that go back to when I was in college, which was only anywhere from 5-10 years ago. Thoughts/opinions on this anyone? It was just an odd (but good!) experience for me, like… “Should I really be doing this, when people that have so many more experiences than I do are doing things like this?”
The second thing that scrolling through my photos made me think of is the fact that I have changed a lot as a person from when I was in my early 20’s to now. They were talking about this very thing on theJOYfm (the Christian radio station that I always listen to) the other day, but they were speaking more about looking back from their 30’s and 40’s to when they were in their 20’s. The thing that stuck out to me most as I was scrolling was the fact that I was so young and naive back in my early 20’s (thank you for telling me this all those years ago, Auntie Lee! Heehee!). I mean, I guess I was just like any other 22 year old entering into adulthood, but I can legitimately say that I am not the same person now as I was when I was 22. I guess a lot can change in five years, and I’m definitely not done learning and growing (and I never will be), but it’s crazy to think that just five seemingly short years have changed who I am as a person pretty drastically. Again, any comments/feedback on this one, guys?
The last thing I want to talk about in my post today is about my church, my growing faith, and my love and appreciation for the people who have come into my life since I have lived down in Florida. I believe I’ve spoken in a previous post about how my roommate is the one who got me going to church again down in Florida, and I am forever grateful to her for introducing me to a church that I have absolutely fallen in love with. I love my church and my pastor because we don’t just read the bible and hear a sermon. Our pastor makes his sermons SO RELEVANT to life and the way the world is today, and his messages always resonate and stick with me. This has allowed me to not only learn the various stories of the bible (that I did not know before), but also to connect the stories of the bible to MY OWN LIFE and everyday struggles… and let me just tell you… This has been a HUGE growth opportunity and eye-opening experience for me. I’m not gonna lie… I cry A LOT at church, not because I’m sad, but because it feels like pastor Joby gets RIGHT TO ME. It’s funny how a message that you had no idea could pertain to you gets RIGHT TO YOUR CORE. And THAT, my friends, is why I love my church, and why I love my pastor. He has allowed me to stretch my mind beyond the church, beyond religion, and beyond the biblical teachings and APPLY Christian principles to my everyday life. And this has given me the ultimate faith, hope, love, and respect for Jesus Christ and the Word of God. Pastor Joby also talks a lot about how Jesus made disciples and how WE, as a body of Christ, are called to make disciples, so this leads me to my last part of this post…
I have FINALLY found my “disciples” in Florida. I know that sounds silly to say, but I have found the women that my soul truly connects with, and I have found the women that have helped me (and will continue to help me) grow as a person. I found these women through working with the YMCA. Though I don’t work with these women face-to-face on a daily basis, one of my “disciples” is the girl who trained me as I was starting to work at the YMCA, and the other is a girl I communicate with on a daily basis about anything and everything life-related. Some of you may be aware that I have been somewhat lonely living in Florida because I had not yet found a connection with friends where I felt that I could vent and spill EVERYTHING about my life with no hesitation. However, the two women I am speaking of are the people that I can come to about any and everything, and they will not judge me. These women have asked me to come to several different functions/events; some of which I have joined in, others I have not… but to know that I have finally made friends down here that will last a lifetime… that has meant the ABSOLUTE WORLD to me, and I would like to thank these women through this post for befriending me and always being there for me. Both of you have changed my life and made my life SO MUCH BETTER, and I cannot thank you enough from the bottom of my heart. Thank you both SO MUCH for giving me love and grace, and for sharing parts of your lives with me. I love you both so much, and thank you for being my disciples!
And with all this being said… I think that’s pretty much it for this post! I know it was another long one, but if you’ve made it to this point, thank you for reading today. Like I said at the beginning, I had no clue what words were going to be written on this post, but I had a few very specific things I wanted to accomplish through writing today, and my soul is now 110% satisfied with everything I’ve written about!
In closing – whoever and wherever you are in the world, I hope you have had a great day today, and I hope you are doing well in the various aspects of your life! …Until next time….
Ciao, for now!
>->—> Kristin <—<-<
Adventures of a 20-something 